Fire of the Sun, Water of the Moon
by Hikari Sword
Summary: After the defeat of MaloMyotismon and Armageddemon, the worlds have returned to peace. Tai himself is enjoying his soccer while getting friendly with the team manager, Sayo Yua. Unfortunately the peace doesn't last as yet again the digital world is under attack by a mysterious assailant, this one seems to hold a personal grudge against the digidestined.
1. Ignition

**Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon or any of its characters.**

 **Author:** Okay, I'm in a bit of a Digimon high right now, this story came to mind after watching Digimon Tri, replaying Digimon Dawn, and while I was waiting for Digimon Cyber Sleuth. Unfortunately, I'm kind of rushing this since I know that if I don't, I'll end up thinking too hard about it and get stonewalled. I hope it turns out okay in the end.

XXX

* * *

 _At the center of a dark void, Tai stands, distraught, while staring at another figure in the dark._

" _Why? Why are you betraying us?!" Tai yells out at the mysterious figure._

 _The figure doesn't answer._

" _Answer me Sora!"_

BEEP BEEP BEEP…

Tai suddenly sits up on his bed, panting hard. He held his head and looks around to get his bearings. Tai shuts off his alarm.

(What was that?)

XXX

* * *

Tai waltzes towards the school, he sees happened to catch Matt giving Sora something. He stopped for a moment and breathed deep.

"Hey!" Tai calls out to them and rushes over.

"Tai," Sora greeted.

"What's that?" Tai looks curiously at the object in Sora's hand.

"It's a ticket to my concert," Matt answers.

"A concert? You got your band back together?"

"Kind of," Matt replies. "There's some new faces. This guitarist we got is really something else, he's playing in a band while studying to be a prosecutor." Matt had to giggle at the thought. "And get this, this brother is a defense attorney."

"A bit of a sibling rivalry?"

"He didn't give us any details, if you want to see him for yourself," Matt takes out another invitation and holds it out to Tai. "Why don't you come along? TK is asking the others at his school. I'm hoping everyone can make it."

"You don't have game on that date do you Tai?" Sora asks.

"No, it's a couple days after," Tai answers as he takes the ticket. "Yeah, I'll be able to make it."

"You should bring some of your friends along," Matt tells him.

"I don't really know anybody outside of you guys."

"Well, if you can think of anybody, be sure to ask, I better get going now." Matt waves as he walks away. "See you guys."

"See you!" Tai and Sora gave a quick wave before walking down the other direction.

"It great to see Matt working so hard," Sora started.

"Yeah, he's really something else."

"Is something bothering you Tai?"

"N-no."

"Really? You look like you have a question."

"Well…" Tai and Sora stopped in the middle of the hall. "Are you taking anyone?"

"There's no one I can really ask."

"So other than us, you're not… seeing anyone?"

"That's a strange question, is something wrong?"

" _Why are you betraying us? Answer me Sora!"_

"Tai?"

"H-huh?"

"Did you blank out? There is something wrong."

"There's nothing wrong-"

A school bell rings.

"Except for that! We gotta go!" Tai and Sora rushed down the hall.

XXX

* * *

"Good going everyone!" a young girl cheers on the soccer team in the field. "Keep it up!" Her long purple hair waved as she waved and jumped. Her purple eyes gleamed in the sunlight.

Tai had the ball, he weaved and danced around the other players. Two of the opposing team ganged up on him, Tai noticed a free teammate and passed to him. The teammate rushed to the goal until a defender stops him. Tai's other teammate signaled a pass. The pass was intercepted by the other team, Tai quickly stole the ball back and aimed for the goal. He lines up his shot and fired the ball. The goalie blocked the attack but fumbled the ball, another of Tai's teammates slides at the ball, sending it into the goal.

The coach blows the whistle, "Alright everyone! Good game!"

Tai helps his teammate up, "Good shot, Marcus."

"Nice set up Tai," he responds. "So, ready to get torn apart by coach Yamaki?"

"You know it," Tai smiles.

"Takato," the coach continues to rip apart her. "Your footwork needs more work, less foot. Takuya, a little more speed. Marcus, don't signal so obviously or the ball will get stolen. Tai, stop hogging the ball. As you can see from this practice, you need to rely on your teammates more."

"Does it matter if he gets the goal" Takuya asks.

"He didn't get the goal," Yamaki answers sternly. "Practice is over."

"Yeesh," Takato murmured. "What a jerk."

"Can't be helped," Tai comments. "We have the national quarter finals soon. We need to be at our best."

"Good job everyone!" the young girl runs up to them carrying water bottles. "Catch!" She tosses the bottles one by one to each of the team players. "And finally a water bottle for the star player!" She tossed the last bottle to Tai. "Don't dry up now, okay?"

"We heard the first 100 times Sayo," Tai opens the bottle and starts drinking.

"A 'thank you' would suffice you know," Sayo pouted.

"Thank you Sayo," Agumon thanks Sayo.

"Aww," Sayo rubs Agumon's head. "Thanks Agumon. Whoever you get your manners from, it's definitely not Tai."

"Ouch," Takuya playfully winced.

"Hehehe," Takato laughed. "I'm surprised Agumon is okay being the team mascot."

"He enjoys it," Sayo playfully plays with Agumon's head.

"You do know that he's more thankful for all the cookies you keep bringing, right?" Tai counters.

"Hmph," Sayo gives Tai an annoyed look. "You just earned yourself some private practice."

"I was waiting for you to say that," Tai smiles.

"Hey," Marcus gets up. "I want some of that action."

"I'm game," Takuya followed.

"Oh, why not?" Takato got ready.

"Three on three then," Sayo gave an assertive tone. "Come on boys! Don't fall behind!"

The rest of the team gave an annoyed groan.

"So what will the teams be?" Takato asks.

"Me and Tai on opposite teams," Sayo answers. "As usual."

"As usual," Takuya sighs.

"She never wants to side with Tai," Takato mumbles.

"It's the only way for her to get a good match," Takuya whispers. "Marcus is good, but only Tai can match with Sayo."

"Ready?" Sayo smirks confidently at Tai.

"Always," Tai smiles back.

It has been nearly a year since the defeat of MaloMyotismon, the human world and digital world has become closer together. More and more digidestined are popping up all over the world, with that comes more and more digimon. There are still hurdles to clear, but for the most part, the two worlds are at peace.

Everyone has pretty much returned to their normal lives, Izzy is hard at work to keep things that way. He's working with Gennai to create a kind of digimon policing force for the two worlds. Until they get that set up, the core digidestined are on call for any incident that most digidestined can't handle. At the very least they managed to get themselves an entire office building as an HQ for operations.

Besides that, Tai himself is has returned to becoming a regular high school boy. Focusing on his soccer and what he can of his studies, Tai had settled down. Though there's been a rumor circulating the school between him and the new team manager, Sayo Yua.

She was a transfer student a few months back. Other than her casual clothing, her crazy purple hair and eyes, her soccer skills, and that outgoing personality of hers, she's fairy average. She doesn't talk about her past though, so no one really knows where she comes from, other than the fact that her overseas working father had set her up to be in this school, and she lives alone. With her soccer skills, she could easily become the girl's top soccer player, but instead she choose to be the manager of the boys team. Which is probably where the rumors started. Her constant teasing with the entire boys team, especially with Tai, does not go unnoticed.

"Whew!" Tai sprawled out on the field. "That was one heck of a match."

"You're… telling… me…" Takato panted hard next to him. "I've never seen her… so worked up."

Sayo walks over Tai and stretches out her hand. "Good match."

Tai takes the hand, "You too." Tai stands up with Sayo's help.

The entire team heads to the locker room to change. When Tai exits the building, he sees Sayo waiting next to his bike. She was wearing her usual casual wear; a dark purple beanie hat with two points that resemble cat ears, and large square goggles wrapping around it. A turtle necked blue shirt, a black jacket with long sleeves and purple ribbon on the left arm, a black skirt, blue and deep blue striped stockings, and purple boots. Around her neck is hangs a small case that no one has ever seen her open and she has a shoulder bag that can fit a small laptop.

"Hey!" Sayo waves.

"Sorry, been waiting long?"

"No," Sayo smiles. "Are you tired from the extra practice?" Sayo pulls out a water bottle. "Need a drink? Don't dry up now, okay?"

"Thanks," Tai takes the bottle and takes a couple mouthfuls before handing it back.

Sayo herself takes some of the water before putting it back. Tai puts Agumon on the bike's basket and gets on, Sayo sits behind him and holds on. Tai starts pedaling.

"Same place?" Tai asks.

"Nah," Sayo shakes her head. "Just drop me by the supermarket. I need more ingredients to make more cookies."

"Yay!" Agumon cheered.

Tai giggled. "Are you going to try anything new this week?"

"I haven't decided," Sayo ponders. "May be… butterscotch? Does Agumon have any preferences?"

"As long as it's good!" Aguman answers.

"Hehe," Sayo smiles. "Okay, I'll do my best."

"Hey Sayo," Tai address her.

"Yes?"

"My friend Matt is going to play in a concert in a couple days, are you available?"

"Why are you asking me?"

"You haven't met any of my friends yet. I thought it'd be a good place to introduce you."

"I don't think you and your friends need any introductions. You're all world famous, aren't you?"

"I guess, but don't you want to meet the rest of them perso-"

Tai's phone starts ringing.

"Who is that?" Tai ponders. "Can you get that?"

Sayo reaches into Tai's pocket.

"He-e-ey!" Tai's biking jerked a bit. "Watch the hands."

"Got it," Sayo took out Tai's phone. "Hello?"

"Hello?" the person on the other side sounded confused. "You're not Tai, who is this?"

"Tai's manager, Tai's busy… driving."

"This is Izzy," the voice on the phone introduced himself. "Please put Tai on, we have… a problem."

"Tai, it's Izzy," Sayo tells him. "He says there's a problem."

Tai slows to a stop and takes the phone. "Izzy, it's me. What's going on?"

Sayo gets off the bike and overhears Tai's voice.

"A Mega? … What about Matt? … He must be practicing. … You set my gate? Alright, I'll be on my way." Tai puts the phone away.

"Trouble?" Sayo asks.

"Yeah, I need to find a computer connected to the network."

"There's a coffee shop nearby with free wifi," Sayo mentions. "I have my laptop with me."

"That's great," Tai gets on his bike. "Let's go."

Sayo holds onto Tai as he raced to the coffee shop. She opens her computer for Tai.

"Can you take my bike back to my place when you're done with it?"

"Sure thing."

"You ready Agumon?" Tai asks his partner.

"You know it!"

Tai raises his digivice to the computer screen, a blinding light engulfs them both.

"Good luck," Sayo whispers.

XXX

* * *

Tai and Agumon lands in a familiar looking forest.

"Huh," Tai looks around. "This place…"

"What do you mean?" Agumon asks.

"This is where we first landed in the digital world. But why would anyone cause trouble here?"

Tai takes out his phone. "Izzy, I'm in. But why am I here?"

"It's the closest place with the best transfer. Be careful, my sensors a detecting a large amount of energy nearby."

"Did you find out why it's attacking here?"

A loud noise, several falling trees and fleeing flying digimon alerts them.

"Guess we'll find out soon, let's go Agumon!"

Tai and Agumon raced to the source of the disturbance. There they saw a large being, clad in orange and red armor, with large and long bushy hair.

"Umm… Izzy? What am I looking at?"

"Hang on… scanning… It says… Apollomon."


	2. Burning Sun

**Author:** Looking back at the title, it seems a little pretentious. XD

I have to give a warning though, most of the digimon attacks I'm using/describing are from what I can interpret from the Digimon wiki, especially from the digimon that I've never seen in the anime. So if the attacks are inaccurate to their portrayals in the anime, I apologize, but I'm sticking to my interpretations, mostly for consistency but also I can work out the battle scenes in my head a little easier.

XXX

* * *

"Apollomon, a solar powered digimon that can call upon the power of the sun to devastate his foes with immense flames," Izzy describes the opposing digimon.

"Okay, so what's its deal?" Tai asks.

"I don't know, why don't you ask him?"

"Are you serious? Fine," Tai hangs up. "Get ready Agumon." Tai walks up behind the intimidating digimon. "HEY!"

Apollomon turns his head. It stares at Tai.

"Mind if I ask what you're doing here?" Tai yells.

The large figure turned around silently, with loud, heavy footfalls. "It's you…" It began to walk slowly towards Tai.

"Huh?" Tai puts on a puzzled and worried face as Apollomon increased its pace.

Apollomon rushes towards Tai at full running speed.

"Oh boy!" Tai jumps aside as Apollomon punches the ground where he was just standing.

"Tai!" Agumon cries out.

"Agumon, go all out!"

"Agumon, warp digivolved to… WarGreymon!"

WarGreymon swung a claw at Apollomon's face. The fiery digimon felt the blow, then punched back. WarGreymon and Apollomon exchanged blows for a few moments as Tai got up and watched.

"Sunfire Punch!" Apollomon's fist suddenly ignited, hitting WarGreymon into the sky.

"So that's how it's going to be," WarGreymon clasped his claws together. "Great Tornado!" WarGreymon spun towards Apollomon.

Apollomon crosses his arms and block the relentless attack. The lion digimon rears its head back, and headbutts WarGreymon out of the tornado.

"It's strong," Tai mumbles.

"Sunfire Punch!" Apollomon jumps above the dragon digimon, fist ready.

WarGreymon rolls away from the attack, he flew upwards and raised his hands. "Terra Force!"

"Sun Ball…!" Apollomon gathers enormous energy around itself. "Blast!" Apollomon punches towards WarGreymon, sending the gathered flames to the dragon.

Two gigantic fireballs collided between them, the massive impact blew Tai off of his feet. WarGreymon catches the flying Tai and places him on his back.

"Thanks buddy," Tai thanks his partner.

"Sun Punch Arrow!" Apollomon punches the air, sending fireballs skyward in their direction.

"Tai!" WarGreymon cried.

"Got it!" Tai jumped off of WarGreymon's back momentarily so that his partner can grab the shields on his back, Tai grabbed and held on his partner's shoulders.

"Brave Shield!" the dragon digimon blocked the incoming barrage of flame as it lowers itself to the ground.

Tai hops off and looks for cover from Apollomon's attacks. WarGreymon puts his shields back and charges the lion digimon full speed, claws glistening. Apollomon readies himself.

The two Mega digimon furiously clashed fists. Tai tries to get closer and get a better look. Waves of flames erupt from the two digimon's clash. Unfortunately, Apollomon is slowly overpowering WarGreymon. The dragon's gauntlets cracked heavily under the power of the lion's blows. The gauntlets break apart, Apollomon forces an opening in the dragon's defense.

"Sunfire Punch!" Apollomon attacks WarGreymon in the chest, completely shattering his armor.

"WarGreymon!" Tai calls out as he rushes to his partner.

"Sun Ball Blast!" Apollomon launches a massive energy ball at the defenseless dragon.

Tai brought up his arms to cover his face from the blast. He powered through the intense wind, heat and dust. The pressure dies down, but the dust cloud remained. Tai couldn't see too far into the clouds. A shadowy, human shaped figure approached him from the front.

"Who-" Tai is punched in the face, knocking him down. Quickly recovering, he looks up at his attacker as the clouds dissipate.

It was definitely human in shape and size, matching Tai's own body nearly exactly. But the head is helmeted in what appears to be a motorcycle helmet, the body is covered in tight dark blue leather clothing.

The human figure cracked his knuckles. "Looking at you… makes me sick." The mysterious figure goes in for another attack.

Tai jump tackles the attacker, climbs on top of him and punches the helmet. "ARGH!" Tai pulls back his hand in pain.

The figure uses the opportunity to push Tai off of him. Tai keeps on his feet, shaking the pain off of his hand as the stranger gets up. Tai looks around the area, he finds Agumon at the center of smoking crater, but he couldn't find Apollomon anywhere.

"I'm right here, stupid!" The stranger punches Tai again, this time Tai stood his ground.

"Yeah, I can see that!" Tai took a step forward to add power to his own attack, hitting the stranger on the chest.

The figure takes a step back, but no more. "Heh, weak. Just like I remember."

"What?"

The figure punches Tai in the face again, staggering him. Tai is grabbed by the collar.

"Pathetic," the figure taunts. "You can't…" the figure punches Tai in the gut. "Protect…" he punches again. "Anything!"

After a few more punches, the stranger releases Tai, whose body collapses on the ground. His head is stepped on by the figure.

"What can you do?" The figure furiously stomps on his head. "Nothing! That's what! You'll never defeat anything! You'll never protect anything!" The stranger plants his foot firmly on Tai's head. "You're too weak. Everything you have, everyone you know and love. All of it will be lost." The figure leans in closer to Tai's head. "And I'll make you see it all."

Tai's body struggles to move. "As… if… I'll let you!" Tai powers through the stranger's weight, knocking the mysterious figure back. Tai's face is badly bruised and bleeding.

The stranger shook his head. "So naive. Just like old times."

Tai charged in to attack the stranger. The figure caught the boy's punch, pulled him in and headbutted him. The figure then followed with another punch to knock him down.

"Tai!" a voice from above calls out to the boy.

The figure looks up and jumps back as several small missiles attack the ground he stood on. The stranger sees Matt fly down on top of MetalGarurumon and tend to his fallen friend.

"Tch."

"Who are you?!" Matt demands.

"Matt, Matt, Matt," the figure address him in a mocking tone, shrugging his arms and shaking his head. "So the good friend comes in for the last minute rescue? You haven't changed. Not yet anyway."

"What are you talking about?"

"He's not in any danger, I won't kill him yet. He has to see how feeble he is." The figure stretches an arm to the side. Fire ignites from the arm and quickly engulfs the stranger in an inferno.

"MetalGarurumon! Get Agumon!" Matt helps Tai to his feet and drags him away.

MetalGarurumon flies over to Agumon and grabs him. The stranger's fire dispersed, Apollomon stood in his place.

"Did he just… turn into a digimon?" Matt asks as MetalGarurumon lays down Agumon nearby.

"Agumon," Tai wobbles over to his partner and cradles him.

"Hmph," Apollomon raises a fist in their general direction. MetalGarurumon jumps into his view, growling at him. "Heh." Apollomon drops his arm. "No, I'll let _him_ take of you."

A loud noise alerts him, out of a forest nearby flew Imperialdramon Dragon Mode.

"Is that where it is?" Apollomon jumps to where Imperialdramon flew out of.

"Don't let him get away!" Matt yelled to MetalGarurumon.

"Mega Crusher!" Imperialdramon Dragon Mode fires an energy ball from his mouth.

"Out of my way!" Apollomon whacks away the energy ball into MetalGarurumon. "Sunfire Punch!" Apollomon punches Imperialdramon aside. He sets foot at the place that Tai first landed at in the digital world. "Of all the places, it had to be here." Apollomon raises his arm and gathers energy above him. "Sun Ball Blast!" Apollomon sends the energy ball into the ground, creating a dome of intense whirling flame that tears apart the ground.

Ken and Davis rendezvous with Matt and Tai.

"Matt, what's happening?" Davis asks the blond.

"I don't know," Matt answers honestly as the fire dome dissipates.

A massive burning crater lay where Apollomon attacked the ground. At the center was a mass cluster of digital fragments. The ground beneath the four humans shakes violently.

"W-what in the world is happening?!" Davis asks out loud.

Matt's cell phone rung, "Izzy?"

"Get out of there! I'm detecting a large buildup of energy! It's going to blow!"

"What?" Matt turns to the others. "We need to move! NOW!"

"Imperialdramon!" Davis calls his giant dragon monster.

All four of them and their digimon escaped the area as a massive digital explosion engulfs everything in the area.

XXX

* * *

 **Author:** So a mysterious new threat suddenly appears in the digital world and starts to mess things up, where have we heard that before? XD


	3. Breaking the Ice

**Author:** I always have a problem remembering to give the digimon partners lines. Well for this chapter I made up some not-so-convincing excuse to take them out for most of it. I tend to focus on the human aspect of my stories than any monster partner or the like.

XXX

* * *

"Ow," Tai winches from the alcohol.

"It's going to hurt more the more you move around," Joe tells him. "It's going to take longer too."

"I told you I'm alright," Tai tells him.

"The doctor says otherwise," Joe tells him. "Not to mention bleeding from the head is a very serious problem."

"You're really into this doctor thing aren't you?" Tai smiles. "I heard that you are studying under a a real one?"

"Yeah," Joe answers. "Dr. Bruce Hogan is great. I have a lot of things to learn from him. Just don't make him angry, you wouldn't like him when he's angry." Joe pulls out a roll of cloth.

"Are all those bandages really necessary?" Tai wonders. "You're going to turn me into a mummy."

"The other option is a really big band aid or a patch, I don't know if they'll stick because of your hair."

"At least they won't cut the circulation to my head."

"Fine, fine, have it your way." Joe walks off to find the right materials. "This will take a while."

"How's Agumon?"

"He's sleeping soundly, Gomamon, Gabumon and Tentomon looking after him. You know how tough he is so don't worry, he's fine."

"That's good," Tai lays back down. "That's good…"

" _Looking at you… makes me sick."_

" _Heh, weak. Just like I remember."_

" _So naive. Just like old times."_

(Just who was that?)

XXX

* * *

"How are you feeling Tai?" Izzy asks the boy as he enters the room. Only Matt was with there with them.

"I'm good," Tai acknowledges. "Did you find out anything?"

"Unfortunately, nothing." Izzy answers. "I've found no record of Apollomon appearing before now."

"What about… that person?"

"Nothing on that end either. You'd think that someone that looks like _that_ would stick out."

"So we can't do anything until he comes back," Tai mumbles.

"Seems like," Matt agrees. "When he does though, we can't run in blindly." He looks at Tai. "Wait for us next time."

Tai stayed quiet at that remark. Thinking deeply about how badly WarGreymon was beaten.

"But that's not the only problem," Matt adds. "He mentioned 'him'. That means he's working with someone."

"So there may be more powerful enemies," Tai mentions.

"There's one last thing," Matt starts. "We don't exactly know if the guy behind that mask is human, or Digimon."

"From what I saw, he was definitely looked human." Izzy contributed. "But the fact that he changed into a digimon, I don't think it's possible."

"He might be controlled like Oikawa was," Tai mentions.

"True," Izzy nods. "That's the most likely possibility."

"But unless we can find out who he is," Matt starts. "We can't do anything."

"Does anyone else know?" Tai asks Izzy.

"Not yet," Izzy answers. "Gennai is investigating in the digital world, we'll have to wait for him to come back to us. I think it's better to wait until after Matt's concert and Tai's game, I told Ken and Davis that too. Not like we can do much right now anyway."

"I guess that's that then," Matt starts to walk away. "I need to get ready. You two bringing anyone?"

"I don't have anyone in mind," Izzy answers.

"I asked, but I didn't get an answer."

XXX

* * *

"So how do I look?" Sayo asks Tai, whom was standing just outside her apartment. She was wearing a dark blue dress.

"Uhh…" Tai was speechless.

"No good?"

"I-it's not that," Tai fumbles his words. "I-it's just a regular concert, no dancing. So n-nothing fancy."

"Oh, so more showy, less fancy? I can do that. Wait." Sayo walks up to Tai.

Tai instinctively pulls his head back, nervous about the close proximity of Sayo's face to his own.

"What happened to you?" Sayo feels the band aid hiding in Tai's hair. "Yikes, your hair practically buries this."

"I was actually counting on that," Tai mentions. "It's nothing."

"Nothing? Obviously something happened when you left the other day. The wound is already dry. Tell you what," Sayo pulls back, "I'll get a glass of water for you to drink while I go change."

Sayo does just that, she gives Tai a glass of water to drink while she changed into something else.

"Where's Agumon?" She asks from afar. "Are the digimon coming?"

"Unfortunately not," Tai answers between gulps. "The place they booked doesn't allow pets. Digimon apparently fit under that category. Matt thinks it's for the better since the place is already full just counting the humans. So our mons will just be hanging around at our homes, like they usually do."

"Usually?"

"They can sometimes wonder off on their own," Tai explains. "But they'll always come back with no problems."

"Sounds like a handful."

"Not really, they know their way around, and they all look out for each other too." Tai takes another drink.

"Alright, how about this?" Sayo steps out wearing a flashy, tight night party outfit.

Tai did a spit take when he saw her.

"That was so worth it just for that reaction," Sayo jokes. "Alright, I guess I'll just go casually." Sayo took a few more minutes to come out wearing her regular clothes. "Shall we go?"

"Please don't do that again."

"You're cute when you're flustered, hehe."

XXX

* * *

"Tai!" Mimi jumped on Tai, arms wrapped around his neck, the force spun him around.

"Mimi?" Tai just barely managed to keep up. "What are you doing here?"

Mimi got off of Tai and smiled. "Like I'm going to miss your national games. Does it excite you that this cute girl flew across the ocean just to see you play? So you better win, or I'm charging you with the flight fares."

"Y-you really didn't need to do that," Tai nervously tells her.

"Haha," Mimi laughs. "I'm joking, mostly. My father has work to do here for a while, I tagged along. But I am serious about you winning your games though. So you better not disappoint."

"He won't," Sayo smiles. "I'll make sure of that."

"Oh?" Mimi leaned in on Sayo. "Who's this?"

"Her name's Sayo Yua," Tai introduces. "She's my soccer team manager."

"Your manager? Her? She doesn't look the type."

"Is there a problem?" Sayo asks.

"What made you want to be Tai's manager?" Mimi ponders.

"I needed the credits," Sayo answers.

"You're good enough to lead the girls team," Tai points out.

"I have more fun messing around with you guys," Sayo smiles.

"Hee," Mimi has a wide grin on her face and looks at Tai. "I like her. What about you?"

"She's a good manager," Tai shrugs. "She kind of over does it with the water though. I think she wants to drown us."

"Aww," Sayo playfully pouts. "I'm only thinking about your health, you guys sweat so much it worries me."

"With all the water you give us we sweat oceans."

"Oh," Mimi puts a hand on her mouth. "That must be quite a sight."

"It is," Sayo smiles.

The two girls giggle together.

"I'm Mimi Tachikawa, it's nice to meet you!"

"It's very nice to meet you too, the description on the internet wasn't too far off about you."

"Oh don't listen to those," Mimi waves her hand as if brushing off the air. "Meeting people is the only way to really know them, you can't use anything that someone else wrote to know anyone."

"You're right."

"Aren't I?" Mimi smiles. "Now where are the others?"

"I haven't seen them," Tai answers as he scans the area. "They're probably with Matt somewhere. Should we take a look?"

"Let's!"

Tai, Mimi and Sayo work their way through the crowd to the backstage, where everyone else was.

"Here you guys are!" Mimi exclaimed.

"Mimi!" Everyone shouted in unison.

"Hi everyone!" Mimi greeted them all back.

"Tai too," Kari noted.

"Glad you remembered," Tai sighs.

"Oh, you brought Sayo?" Kari notices the other girl walk from behind Tai.

"Nice to see you again Kari!"

"You invited your manager?" Matt asks.

"There really wasn't anyone else I could think of," Tai answers. "Most of my soccer buddies have their own plans, and I think I already saw a couple of them on the way in here."

"Hey! Don't make me sound like a last resort," Sayo pouts.

"You know this is going to fuel those rumors right?" Matt asks.

"I'm aware," Tai answers calmly. "But if I really minded them then I would've avoided asking her. We're good friends, that's all there is to that."

"On and off the field, right?" Sayo smiles in his direction.

"I guess?" Tai scratches his head. "I don't really see you outside of school and soccer though. Aren't you classmates with Sora?"

"We are," Sora answers. "But we don't really talk."

"Yeah," Sayo scratches her head. "I couldn't bring myself to just talk to her, I mean, what kind of things can we talk about?"

The room suddenly fell silent.

"Awkward…" Mimi breathes out to Izzy.

"Yeah," Izzy agrees.

"So Tai!" Mimi screams out.

"Ow!" Izzy covered his ears.

"When and where is your next game going to be?" Mimi asks.

"Are you alright Izzy?" Joe asks his friend.

"My ears are ringing," Izzy answers.

"I can send you a text so that you don't forget," Sayo tells Mimi.

"That'd be great!"

"When does the concert begin?"

"Pretty soon," Sora notifies them. "I guess we should get going."

"I'll see you all from on stage," Matt waves to them.

"Be sure to wave to us!" TK tells him jokingly.

"Yeah, I'll blow you a kiss too."

Everyone chuckled.

The digidestined looked for a place to sit at the stands. They managed to find a block of seats that could fit all of them. Tai and Sayo sat together and Sora sat next to Sayo.

"So how long have you known Tai?" Sora asks.

"Only since I decided to be his team's manager," Sayo answers. "You two are childhood friends right? There's a rumor on the internet about you two."

"A-a rumor?" Sora becomes flustered. "N-no, please don't believe those."

"That's what Mimi said too," Sayo replies. "What I find strange is that I don't think I ever see you guys ever together, or at least not in this large of a group. You're all close friends, right?"

"We have our things to do," Sora answers. "Matt has his band, Tai has soccer. We keep in touch, but we can only come together for big events like this."

"Tai is an especially weird case," Sayo mentions. "Out of all of you, he seems to be alone the most."

"Is he?"

"You guys aren't exactly hiding yourselves," Sayo tells her. "Tai especially sticks out. It's very easy to spot him even if I'm just across the field." Sayo playfully tugs her hair.

"That's true," Sora smiles.

"There's something I want to ask," Sayo starts.

"If it's something from the internet, I don't want to answer."

"Oh it's all over the internet," Sayo responds. "But it's all over the school too."

"What?" Sora looks at her curiously.

"Sayo, don't," Tai interrupts.

"Huh?" both girls looks at her.

"Now's not a good time," Tai tells her. "I hear those rumors too."

Sora stays quiet, she knew she wouldn't be getting any more out of them.

"It looks like Matt's coming on," TK mentions.

Matt's band takes the stage, they greet the audience and the audience responds with a roar. They play light rock songs throughout which are well received. The band then stopped playing, but Matt pulled up a high chair. He starts playing solo, a slow song. If it isn't evident from the lyrics what type of song it is, then the direction that Matt constantly faces, one person speficially, as he sings definitely gives it away. Everyone was silent as Matt sung the slow, emotional song. Matt eventually fades into silence, then a loud applause fills the air. Matt waves to the digidestined specifically.

"I love you too Matt!"

Everyone jerked back and stared at Tai.

"Too much?" Tai nervously laughs.

"You're going to give the fangirls ideas Tai," Sayo mentions.

"I think it's too late for that," Mimi adds.

The rest of the concert went without a hitch, except for the last act, Jimiken. Everybody left as soon as he took the stage.

* * *

The digidestined gathered just outside the backstage.

"That was a great time," Sayo tells them. "We should do that again."

"There's Tai's games," Yolei mentions. "But I don't think we can make them all. The next match in particular, especially since it's in another city."

"We should at least make sure that our schedules for the final match is free," Cody adds.

"I still have to make it to the finals," Tai mentions. "I hear that the team we're up against are really good."

"But you're better," Sora tells him. "I know it."

"Yeah that's the spirit!" Davis yells. "Kick their butts Tai!"

"Please don't," Sayo cuts in. "You'll get a penalty."

That got some giggles.

"Did I miss something?" Matt appears to the group.

"We were just discussing Tai's games," Sora answers.

"Oh, right. Your next one is a couple days, right?"

"Yeah."

"I think I can make it, I'll double check and tell you tomorrow."

"Thanks Matt," Tai and Matt fist bump.

"I gotta give back to my fans who love me, right?" Matt smiles.

"That's not going to go away anytime soon is it?" Tai sighs.

Everyone chatted for a few more moments before going their separate wars. Tai, Kari and Sayo walked together.

"That went better than I thought it would," Sayo mentions.

"What do you mean?" Tai asks.

"I was really nervous."

"It was your first time meeting everybody," Kari tells her. "What do you think of everyone?"

"I'm just glad that all of you are normal people," Sayo replies. "Mimi was right, the internet can really blow things out of proportion."

"Oi, just what are they saying about us?" Tai asks.

"I… think it's better that you don't know," Sayo smiles.

"Huh?" Kari notices something drifting downward. "Tai, I think you dropped something."

"Hmm?" Tai stops and turns to his sister. "What is it?"

"It looks like a really large band aid."

"Um… Are you sure that's mine?"

"It looks like it came out of your hair," Kari walks up to him. "You didn't get hurt in a fight did you?"

"I-I didn't get into any sort of fight," Tai fumbles his words.

"Can I see?" Kari walks up beside him and examines his head. She has Tai bend down a bit as she scours every area she can see. "I don't see anything."

"S-see? What did I tell you?"

"Sorry Tai," Kari sounded slightly distressed.

"It's alright," Tai scratches his head. "I know you were just worried."

"I should put this in the trash."

"That was close," Sayo whispered. "It's a good thing it's easy to hide things like that in your hair."

"Y-yeah…" Tai quietly but nervously answers. (That's strange, there really is nothing. There's no way that would heal up that fast, what happened?)


	4. An Old Flame

" _Sora!" Tai dives to grab Sora's hand, Tai himself fell over the side but he grabbed the ledge. "I got you!" Tai struggles to hang on both the ledge and Sora. But Sora was slipping from his grip._

BEEP BEEP BEEP…

Tai opened his eyes slowly. He sat up even slower.

(Another strange dream.)

XXX

* * *

"Hey Tai," Sayo calls from outside the bus. "There's a little surprise for you."

"Huh?" Tai steps off the bus to notice Kari, TK, Matt, Sora, Davis, Mimi and their digimon waiting for him. "Hey! You actually made it."

"Yeah," Matt nods happily. "Surprised me too how many we managed to get."

"I just can't believe we were allowed on the bus," Gabumon explains.

"I did everything I could to make it here," Kari tells him.

"She had to pick between you or homework," Gatomon adds.

"I was just lucky today," TK adds.

"Lucky no one asked you out," Patamon teased.

Davis mumbles something inaudible for a second. "Like I'm going to miss one of your games!"

"Yeah! I really want to see some action," Veemon playfully punches the air.

"I came all the way here to see you play," Mimi smiles.

"You also had a lot of spare time on your hands," Palmon joked.

"Since Matt and Mimi managed to make it, I didn't want to be left behind." Sora explains.

"You should've seen how panicked she was to try and come here," Biyomon explains.

"Thanks everyone," Tai grins widely.

"Hey, it's the least I could do," Matt replies.

"It's been a while since I've seen you in top form," Sora begins. "You have gotten better, right?"

"Of course!" Tai playfully flexes. "Just you watch."

"We will," Mimi smiles.

"Wow," Takato watches Tai talk with his friends. "So those are digidestined."

"It must be nice to have digimon partners," Marcus comments.

"Do you want one, Marcus?" Takuya asks.

"Well, yeah," Marcus answers confidently. "Even if it was just another Agumon, a digimon partner is like having a really close friend. Who doesn't want one?"

"I'd like one too," Takato mentions. "May be it'll help around the shop too."

"Or eat everything in sight," Marcus grins. "What about you Takuya?"

"I don't know about having a partner, but I would like to turn into a digimon!" Takuya gloated.

"Seriously?" Sayo questioned him.

"Well, yeah! Think about how awesome it would be to do all the cool things that digimon do."

"Fighting for your life is one of them," Sayo tells him. "If you're not ready for that, you should re-think what you said."

"Wow," Marcus looks at Sayo surprised. "That's quite a buzzkill, did something happen to you?"

"I'm just imagining what it would be like, I've seen digimon fight up close, it's frightening."

"I'm not scared, I'll just punch them in the face."

"Unless your hand is on fire, I don't think you'll be able to fight anything. Now will you guys get ready, we're losing time. Hey Tai! Come on!"

"Looks like I gotta go," Tai tells his friends.

"She's really hard working," Sora notes.

"She is," Tai comments. "She probably works harder than we do."

"No doubt," Matt smiles. "You alone must be a handful."

"Hey!"

The group chuckles.

"Tai!" Sayo calls again.

"I'm coming! See you on the field!"

"Good luck!" Kari yells back.

"Should we go find our seats?" TK asks.

Everyone starts walking to the stadium except for Sora, she watches as Tai chats playfully with Sayo and his team.

"She's really something else, right Sora?" Mimi sneaks up on her.

"Huh?" Sora jumped a bit.

"Sayo," Mimi walks up beside Sora. "What do you think about her?"

"She looks friendly, and very nice."

"Tai also said she was hardworking, at least when it comes to managing the team."

"There's that… and…"

"She's really forward, especially with Tai."

"…"

"Hey!" Matt calls to them.

"We're coming!" Mimi replies. "Let's go Sora."

"Yeah."

XXX

* * *

Tai's team plays the field, badly. The opposing team played aggressive from the get go, forcing Tai's team on the defensive throughout the game. Four players in particular gave Tai's team trouble, Joey, Muto, Tristan and especially Yami. While the players were evenly matched, their teamwork proved to be better.

Sora and Kari notices something odd with Tai's movements. It was as if he was forcing himself along, something was definitely on going on.

"You see what I'm seeing?" Sora asks Kari.

"Yeah," Kari voice carries worry. "He's thinking about something."

"Not just that, he's still trying to keep the ball to himself. But if he can't focus on the match…"

At the end of the first half, the opposing team scored 3 points, Tai's team scored one. At the half time, coach Yamaki tears into the team. Sora notices a distant look in Tai's face, even from afar she can feel the jumbled aura Tai was giving out.

"Excuse me," Sora gets up.

"Where are you going?" Matt asks.

"I'm going to talk to Tai," Sora answers.

"Give him a good slap for me too," Mimi exclaims.

Sora leaves the group and heads to where Tai's team was.

"Man, I can't believe Tai is losing," Davis crosses his arms frustrated.

"If only there was something we could do," Kari worries.

Veemon watches as the cheerleaders dance on the field.

"Hey guys!" Veemon calls to the other digimon. "I've got an idea!"

Sora made her way to Tai's team, but Tai wasn't anywhere to be found.

"Sora," Marcus greets the girl. "Looking for Tai?"

"Y-yes," Sora answers nervously.

"He's back there," Marcus motioned towards the back of the stands.

"Thank you," Sora walked over to where Marcus pointed.

"You sure that was a good idea?" Takuya asks Marcus.

"I don't think she'd be willing to take no for an answer. The rest is up to them."

Sora walked towards a corner.

"…The whole team can sense it." A girl's voice drifted through the air. "Look, I'm pretty sure that whatever's bugging you isn't going to go away just because we want it to. But you need to know that you're the team leader, you have to focus on what's happening right now instead of what happened before or whatever is going to happen later."

Sora peeked around the corner to see Tai slumped down against a wall holding a water bottle and Sayo standing over him.

Tai looks up at her, "I know, I know."

Sayo let out a deep breath and sat down next to him. "Alright, what happened?"

"Huh?"

"You've been out of it since that day after practice, when you were called to the digital world."

"You can tell?"

"I told you, the whole team can tell. We just don't know why. All I know is that it has something to do with that injury you had before your friend's concert."

Tai kept quiet.

Sora clenched her hand over her heart. (An injury? In the digital world? Did he get hurt in a fight?)

"So that's it," Sayo slid closer. "I won't ask what happened, but you can't let it get to you. You'll worry everyone. Your family, your friends, the digimon, your team, me."

Tai turned to face her. "You?"

"I'm your manager, I'm supposed to be worried whenever one of the players looks a little off. Tai, don't forget," She playfully pokes Tai's head. "The teams you're in, while they look up you, they're also there to support you."

The two hear the crowd roaring with laughter.

"What's going on out there?" Sayo quickly gets up and heads around the corner. "Ah?"

Sora jerked back slightly. Sayo takes a quickly look at Tai, he was taking a drink out of his water bottle. She walked closer so that Tai wouldn't be able to see her.

"What are you doing here?" Sayo asks.

"I wanted to talk to Tai," Sora answers.

"… How long were you here?"

"I…" Sora couldn't bring herself to answer, she nervously looked down.

Sayo waited for a few seconds before noticing the clenched hand above her chest. "I understand. Just… keep it to yourself, alright?" Sayo left Sora and headed for the field. She saw Agumon, Biyomon, Gatomon, Palmon, Patamon and Veemon trying to entertain the crowd by mimicking the cheerleaders, and failing miserably. She couldn't help but giggle.

"Sora?" Tai's voice caught Sora by surprise.

"Tai," Sora exclaimed.

"What are you doing here?"

"I-I just came to tell you…" Sora trails off. "Um…"

"Tell me what?" Tai pondered.

"I-We're rooting for you as hard as we can," Sora tells him. "We know that you can come back from this, remember some of our games?"

Tai just stares at her for a moment, recollecting some of his earlier memories with Sora. He smirked. "Yeah, there was one where we came back from a 5 point disadvantage, right?"

"You do remember!"

"But it took the both of us all we had to do that," Tai reminds her. "I don't think I can do it by myself."

"Do you know the reason why we won that game?" Sora asks.

Tai couldn't come up with an answer.

"You and I worked together," Sora answers.

"But that was you," Tai responds. "I don't think I can pull it off with any of these guys."

"Believe in them Tai, like you did with me in that game. You can't win everything by yourself. The team leader might have to stand in front, but every now and then you have to look back to see the team behind you. If you don't, you'll feel alone."

"Wow Sora, that's deep."

"I-I just said the first things that came to mind! I wasn't thinking about it."

"Thanks Sora," Tai smiles. "Hearing that from you, I feel a lot better."

Sora feels a confident aura emanating from Tai as he walked towards the field.

"Marcus, Takuya, Takato," Tai calls to his teammates. "We need to talk."

XXX

* * *

"You wanted to see me Gennai?" Izzy asks the older man.

"Yes," Gennai hands out a small strange device shaped like a glove with a small tube. "There's something I need you to get for me."

"Something for you? What can't you get?"

"Data from that mysterious digimon that Tai fought."

"Data?" Izzy takes the small device and fits it on his hand, there was an empty meter at the back of it. "With this?"

"It's a shield of sorts, any attack you block with it will be absorbed and converted to data. Be careful though, it uses a lot of power and it's not that strong so avoid any powerful attacks."

"You want me to hold up a temporary shield against a Mega level digimon?" Izzy asks dumbfounded.

"There's another option, just use the shield to gather residue."

"As in any of his flames that are still burning, right?"

"Since any flames left behind by his attacks also carry his data, it's a much safer alternative, but it will take longer to fill."

"With how much flames he was spewing, it shouldn't be a problem. But why do you need his data?"

"I want to study the digivolution he used," Gennai answered. "If what you said is true, then it is worth investigating."

"Alright, I'm curious about it too."

XXX

* * *

"Nice shot Marcus!" Tai high fived his teammate. Tai's team miraculously turned the game around, they now lead by one point, with a minute and a half left.

"That was a good pass dude," Marcus compliments.

"What now?" Takato asks.

"Stay defensive," Tai tells them. "Keep an eye on them and each other. But keep moving and stay alert. Marcus you take the lead."

"Got it."

The timer started counting down, the crowd cheers for their home team, but Tai's friends can still be heard through them. Tai smirked and got to work. The ball crossed the halfway mark and Marcus went forward to intercept. The ball danced on the field between the feet of all the players. Tai's team manages to keep the ball stalled by knocking it away from the net every now and then. The opposing team's desperation can be felt in their erratic and forceful movements.

The timer continues to count down with only a few seconds remaining. The opposing team's star player, Yami, breaks away from Marcus and heads for the net with the ball. Tai rushes forward to intercept him. Yami knows that he can't fight off Tai as easily, he fires off a desperate shot at the net. The ball flies by Tai, he turns around, knowing full well that their goalie can't block that. It's almost assured that the ball with fly into the net. Takato jumped in and blocks the ball with his chest, the other team rushes him. He quickly passes to Takuya, Takuya rushes away from the opposing team until the timer runs out. Tai's team wins the game.

The crowd cheers at the close game. Tai sat down where he is and breathed out a sigh of relief. The other team's star, Yami walks over to him and holds out a hand.

"That was a great game," Yami tells him.

"Heh," Tai takes the hand and is helped up. "You too."

"I was worried it would be too easy," Yami joked. "Guess I underestimated you."

"I had a couple slaps to the face," Tai jokes. "I just needed to wake up."

"Indeed, the aura of uncertainty and confusion I felt from you in the first half seemed to have disappeared. Whomever or whatever got your motivation back deserves both praise and thanks."

"Huh?"

"Don't worry about it," Muto walks up to them. "He likes to be cryptic like that." Muto moves in closer to whisper. "He thinks it makes him cool. I mean, he keeps saying this crazy speech about beliving in the heart of the ball."

"Really?" Tai raised an eyebrow.

"That's enough out of you," Yami pulls Muto back by his shirt and extends a hand out to Tai. "I hope we can play again."

"Same here."

"Oooooh yeah!" Davis jumped excitedly. "That's how it's done!"

"I gotta say, he sure knows how to put on a show," Matt comments.

"Whatever you told him worked," Mimi compliments Sora.

Sora shakes her head, "He just needed a reminder."

"I haven't seen him pull off a comeback like that since elementary," Kari notes.

"We should go down and congratulate him," TK suggests.

"Yeah, let's go," Matt leads the group down to the field as the crowds thinned out.

Everyone sees Tai's team celebrating their victory together very loudly.

Sayo walks up to Tai with a bottle in her hand, "Catch!" She tosses the bottle.

Tai catches it easily, "Thanks Sayo."

"Celebrations have only begun," Sayo playfully tells him. "Don't dry up now, okay?"

"Tai!" Matt and the other yell out to him.

"Hey guys!" Tai waves to them.

Tai was showered with praise from all of his friends and teammates. Sayo watches the scene for a moment, smiling, before looking over the team's supplies. She wiped her eyes quickly.

"Aren't you going to celebrate with everyone?" a girl's voice asks her.

"Huh?" Sayo turns around to see Sora. "Nah, I don't need to be there."

"You should, it was you the helped Tai get on his feet."

"Are you sure it wasn't you? He didn't seem any different when I left."

"Then let's both take the credit."

"If you say so."

"Then it's agreed," Sora takes Sayo's hand and pulls her over to the gang.

"What are you-?"

"Come on!"

The rest of the time they had left was spent on celebrations.

XXX

* * *

"Well, this is it," Matt stops in front of Sora's home. "Today was certainly something, wasn't it?"

"It sure was," Sora agrees happily.

"I haven't seen Tai get so worked outside of battle before."

Sora fell silent at the mention of Tai and battle.

"Huh? Sora? Is something wrong?"

"Tell me something Matt," Sora's voice carried great concern. "Did Tai… get into a fight?"

"What do you mean? We haven't been at each other's throats in over a month, that's got to be a new record."

"I'm serious Matt," Sora raised her voice slightly. "I overheard his manager finding an injury before your concert, she said he got it after he was called into the digital world."

Matt's face only showed slight surprise for a moment, then became serious. He stayed silent for a little while before answering. "Yeah, he did get into trouble in the digital world. We're still trying to find out exactly what the trouble is, but it's definitely strong."

"You guys should've told us," Sora tells him. "We could've helped."

"This is exactly why we didn't tell anyone," Matt explains. "I don't know how Tai's manager figured it out but it's precisely because we didn't want to worry anyone."

"Is… is it over?"

Matt looks at her sternly. "No… it isn't. But Tai won't be going alone anymore, I'll make sure of that."

"Then next time, take me with you!" Sora looks at him with determined eyes. "I want to be there!"

Matt sighs, "Alright, now get some sleep, it's been a long day."

 **XXX**

* * *

 **Author:** Yep, those were Yu-Gi-Oh cameos. Unfortunately I couldn't fit in a hair joke. XD


	5. Flaming Curve Ball

_Tai walks onto a field at night, he sees the back of a figure standing in the middle._

" _The stars are really bright tonight, aren't they?" the figure asks without turning around._

 _Tai stayed silent._

 _The figure looked down slightly, "You came here to ask me something, right?"_

 _Tai didn't answer. He couldn't._

" _Do you hate me Tai? For what I've done?"_

 _A bright light appears above the figure. It sees to gather energy, growing brighter every second. Tai had to focus on the light to see two smaller glowing lights, like eyes. The large ball of light is fired in his direction. The area filled up with blinding light._

" _I'm sorry Tai, I won't ask for forgiveness, I know I don't deserve it."_

BEEP BEEP BEEP…

Tai groggily gets up and shuts off his alarm.

(What's with those dreams lately?)

XXX

* * *

Matt and Sora explore the shopping district, looking through the windows of various clothing stores.

"Do you really need another shirt, Sora?" Matt asks.

"A few of them are getting small, I can barely fit in them anymore," Sora explains.

"But your closet is so full," Biyomon tells her.

"Are you sure-" Matt starts to talk.

"Don't start," Sora shuts him up before he could get a joke in.

"I wasn't going to say anything like that," Matt tries to save himself.

"Yeah, right," Gabumon giggles.

The two explore the various shops on the street.

"Hey!" TK calls out to them, he was with Kari.

"TK, Kari," Sora greets them. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm looking for some food for Miko," Kari answers.

"Right," Matt had a revelation. "I keep forgetting you have an actual cat."

"Does she get along with Gatomon?" Sora wonders.

"Well enough," Kari answers. "It took a while for her to get used to Gatomon."

"She was probably jealous," Patamon speculates.

"A few catfights here and here," Gatomon brags. "I always win."

"May be that's why she's so sour all the time now," Kari jokes.

"Hey," a boy's voice gets the group's attention.

"Marcus," Sora recognizes the boy. "What are you doing here?"

"I got a message from Sayo, she's treating the team to dinner. I say team, but really it's just me, Tai, Takuya and Takato."

"Dinner?" Kari wonders.

"For winning the quarter finals."

"That sounds expensive!" Sora exclaimed.

"It's just in the food court," Marcus explains. "Nothing extravagant."

"She's probably saving that for when you win the finals," Matt suggests.

"We can only hope," Marcus laughs. "Since you're all here, why not join us? Well, as long as you pay for your own food I guess, I don't want to put too much strain on her."

"Are you meeting up already?" Kari asks.

"Yeah, they should all be there in…" Marcus looks at his phone. "A few minutes. Let's start walking so that we can meet up with Tai and the others."

"Where is Tai anyway?" TK wonders.

"He and Sayo were doing some private training," Marcus answers.

"Private training?" Matt asks. "But don't you guys have practice tomorrow anyway?"

"Sayo does this to us every now and then," Marcus explains. "Sometimes she'll drag us out for some extra practice."

"Is she good?" Sora ponders.

"Very good," Marcus explains. "She's like a second coach, and she plays just as good as Tai."

"Just as good as Tai?"

"Yep, surprised us too. She keeps getting asked to join the girl's team, but she always refuses. That Nokia is really stubborn though."

"She probably just likes to watch the guys get all sweaty," Matt jokes.

"Matt!" Sora raises her tone. "Don't make her sound indecent."

"Honestly, no one really knows why she wants to stay as the boy's manager." Marcus continues. "Not that I'm complaining, she's doing a great job of it."

"Hey!" Tai waves towards the group with Agumon. Takuya, Takato and Sayo were all there too.

"Sup!" Marcus waves back and rushes ahead. "Hope you don't mind, I ran into some of Tai's friends. Don't worry, they'll take care of their own food."

"It's fine," Sayo happily acknowledges. "The more the merrier right?"

"What are you guys doing here?" Tai asks the group.

"We were just out shopping," Kari answers. "We didn't expect to see you here."

"It's just a coincidence," Matt explains. "Me and Sora were shopping for one thing, TK and Kari were shopping for another, and Marcus happened to run into us. What happened to you? You look like you've been through a sauna."

"It's Sayo's private training," Tai begins. "She's really tough."

"Are you going to be alright?" Sora asks.

"I'll be fine, I just had a whole bottle of water before coming here. I think I'm feeling the fatigue going away."

"It's not gone yet," Sayo pushes another bottle of water onto him. "You're still sweating like a pig. Don't dry up now, okay?"

"I can't eat if I'm full of water."

Everyone giggled.

"Alright," Sayo gets everyone's attention. "You guys get your food and keep the receipts, I'll see what I can work out of the team's budget."

"What?" the entire boys team all looked at her in shock.

"I thought you were treating us," Takuya asks.

"I am," Sayo answers with a playful looking but sinister smile. "But I can't do that out of my own pocket."

"You're cruel," Takato whined.

"Oh come on, I can work our budget around this little expense, now go get something to eat," Sayo pushes the boys away.

Matt and the gang can't help but chuckle at the scene.

"I'm going to see if I can mash some tables together," Sayo tells them. "Why don't you all find some food?"

The digidestined and the soccer team scatter around the food court as Sayo moves a couple tables around. They all sat together, attracting quite a bit of attention from the people around, but otherwise they were allowed as they were. Sayo presented gifts, bags of homemade cookies, which were originally meant for the team, but she decided to give them out to the digimon instead, much to the boys' dismay.

A few moments later, Sayo had disappeared somewhere in the middle of the commotion. Sora was the only one to really notice this and decided to vanish as well to find her. Sora sees the manager hiding away around a corner, slumped towards a wall.

"Is something wrong?" Sora asks, concerned.

Sayo quickly wiped her eyes with her long sleeves and turns to Sora, smiling. "It's nothing, someone just accidentally bought something that I'm allergic to and I couldn't hold in any longer. What are you doing here anyway? Shouldn't you be with them?"

"That's what I should be asking you, you're the one that set this up aren't you?" Sora counters.

"I can't let the guys know that I have an allergy, I think they might hold a grudge with all the private training I put them through." Sayo grins.

Sora knows she's just avoiding giving her a direct, truthful answer. But decides against going deeper into it. "We should head back."

"Yeah, give me another minute."

Sora walks back first, Sayo opens the case that was hanging around her neck and looked at the object inside. A single tear falls down onto it before she wipes her face once more, closes the case and headed back to the group.

"What's wrong everyone?" Sora asks a serious looking Matt and Tai.

"They just got a call from Izzy," TK answers. "It looks like something's happening in the digital world."

"Well Tai?" Matt looks at Tai sternly.

"Yeah, let's go." Tai replies.

"The wifi around here is a little weak," Sayo takes out her computer. "But it should be enough."

"Thanks Sayo," Tai got his digivice ready.

Tai, Matt, Sora, TK, Kari and their digimon all used Sayo's computer to enter the digital world.

XXX

* * *

The digidestined all land in a desert area, with heat and sand everywhere. Izzy landed right next to them.

"Izzy?" Tai questioned his friend's presence.

Izzy pulled out a high tech glove and put it on his hand. "Gennai wanted me to get some data on that digimon."

"What are you going to do? Shake his hand?"

"It's a little more complicated than that, but there's no time to explain," Izzy took out his laptop and started typing. "According to my calculations, that mysterious digimon is-"

A bunch of sad exploded upwards not too far from where they were.

"-Over there."

Apollomon stands in the ruins of an old lab covered in sand. He stares at the room for moment. "I can't believe that it's here." He raises his arm, gathering energy above it.

"Great Tornado!" WarGreymon dives towards the lion digimon.

"Argh!" Apollomon is hit by the attack, he is knocked down to the ground.

"Ice Wolf Bite!" MetalGarurumon unleashes a barrage of ice missiles.

"Sun Punch Arrow!" Apollomon attacked the various missiles with fireballs, creating white clouds in the air.

"Horn Buster!"

"Wing Blade!"

"Celestial Arrow!"

Apollomon covered his face with his arms to guard. The three Ultimate attacks hit him square on. The lion digimon waved the resulting clouds away to get a better view of his opponents. WarGreymon, MetalGarurumon, MegaKabuterimon, MagnaAngemon, Angewomon and Garudamon all hover above him. The digidestined stand together. Tai in particular gave a strong glare.

"Hmph, back for more?" Apollomon rears his arm back.

"Don't let him attack!" Tai cries out.

All the digimon charge forward. Apollomon punches the ground, sending a geyser of sand upwards.

The digimon stop their charge, Apollomon flies out of the sand and tackles MetalGarurumon. Garudamon and Angewomon see him and fire off their attacks. Apollomon sidesteps them and counters with fireballs. WarGreymon flies in and swings his claw. Apollomon blocks the attack easily.

"You and your partner never learn," Apollomon pushes WarGreymon's arm away. "Sunfire Punch!"

"Brave Shield!"

WarGreymon is knocked away into the sand.

"Gate of Destiny!" MangaAngemon created a gate that sucks in the air and sand, Apollomon tries to keep still as it sucks him in.

"Horn Buster!"

"Wing Blade!"

The two attacks hit Apollomon, his body slips closer to the gate.

"Sun Punch Arrow!" Apollomon counters with a barrage of fireballs. The fireballs hit Garudamon and MegaKabuterimon.

"Metal Wolf Claw!" MetalGarurumon unleashes a breath of freezing ice.

Apollomon guards his face from the attack. His arms froze together.

"Giga Missile!" MetalGarurumon launches a large missile at the fire digimon.

Apollomon whacks the missile, causing it to fly wildly towards the Gate of Destiny. The gate freezes and shatters.

"Excalibur!" MagnaAngemon flies in to attack.

Apollomon dodges the thrust, knees the angel in the stomach, then smashes his ice covered arms on his back. Apollomon grabs the angel digimon and throws him into Angewomon. MetalGarurumon tackles Apollomon to the ground. The metal wolf pins the lion down.

"Metal Wolf Claw!" MetalGarurumon blasts Apollomon's face.

"Sun Ball Burst!" Apollomon's body explodes in flame, forcing the wolf off. WarGreymon dives with his claws first, the lion digimon rolled out of the way as it impales the ground.

"I'm impressed, you're all stronger than I remember," the digimon smiles.

"Give up, you can't defeat us!" MetalGarurumon boasts.

"I don't need to defeat you," Apollomon turns to the digidestined. "Sun Punch Arrow!"

"Terra Force!" WarGreymon throws a massive energy ball at Apollomon's attacks. The other digimon charged at Apollomon.

Terra Force explodes on the first set, the explosion engulfs the others behind it. But it wasn't enough to stop them all.

"Get back!" Izzy runs in front of the group. He activates his glove, an energy shield emerges in front of him, taking the fireballs. The shield cracks only after a few hits.

"Get down!" Tai tackles Izzy into the ground as the shield shatters.

The other digidestined spread out to avoid the rest of the attack.

"Gennai wasn't kidding about this thing being not that strong," Izzy comments.

"Forget that, did you get what you needed?" Tai asks.

Izzy quickly checks the device, there a small tube glows red. "Yeah."

Tai gets up, "WarGreymon! Finish it!"

"Don't have to tell me twice!" WarGreymon extends his claws and flies towards Apollomon as the digimon tosses MegaKabuterimon aside.

"Ragh!" the dragon mon slashes the lion's chest, leaving slashes in the armor.

"Sunfire Punch!" Apollomon knocks WarGreymon down. He kicks the dragon digimon away as Angewomon and Garudamon's attacks nail him. "Sun Punch Arrow!" Apollomon's fireballs blow the two digimon away.

"Excalibur!" MagnaAngemon rides MetalGarurumon at high speeds. The angel slashes through the lion, breaking off his armor.

"Terra Force!" WarGreymon gathers and launches an energy ball.

"Sun Ball-!"

"Horn Buster!" MegaKabuterimon hits Apollomon from behind, disrupting his attack.

Terra Force's explosion engulfs the lion.

"Ice Wolf Bite!"

"Celestial Arrow!"

"Horn Buster!"

"Wing Blade!"

The other digimon's attacks bombard the lion digimon. MetalGarurumon's missiles cover the area in thick white clouds.

"Great Tornado!" WarGreymon spins through the clouds. The dragon digimon pierces through the smoke as a broken black helmet flies out of it.

"Oh yeah!" Tai celebrates. "They did it!"

"Let's go everyone," Matt and everyone else headed for the thick cloud of smoke.

The digimon gathered around the clouds, prepared for anything as the digidestined arrive.

"Garudamon!" Sora calls on her partner. The winged digimon flapped her wings, blowing the clouds away.

"What?" Matt stared, completely shocked.

"That-that's impossible!" Tai exclaimed.

"Heh," the stranger smirks.

Out of them all, Tai is the most surprised, because the stranger looked exactly like him.

XXX

* * *

 **Author:** I feel as though now would be a good time to explain a little of how this story came to be. Don't worry, there won't be spoilers for the rest of the story here. If you're still weary, just stop reading now.

I was always intending on write another digimon story, just didn't know what kind of plot to use. One of the ideas that came to mind was a sort of 'dark Tai', which is the embodiment of Tai's cowardice given form, and he somehow can wield the powers of WarGreymon. Of course it'd be another Tai/Sora fic, but the basic idea is the same. Tai and digidestined find 'dark Tai', Tai loses his power to help Agumon digivolve so he has to rely on the group to confront him. I didn't get much further than that in that very early version of the story since I knew it was an interesting premise to go off of, but I didn't know exactly where to go with it. That story was kind of stuck in my head for quite a while, keeping 'dark Tai' as the embodiment of Tai's cowardice.

I had tangled with the idea of 'anti-crests', but that proved too difficult to work in everyone. Then there was that 'dark Tai' is just helping some random evil digimon but really just wants to screw with Tai, that didn't work out either. So the story just lingered for a while until I heard about Cyber Sleuth getting a localization, and with the Sayo DLC I went back to play Digimon Dusk. It was then I figured out a way to rework the original idea I had into something I can make an actual story out of, even if it gets a little convoluted later on (I'm still trying to make sense of it myself actually XD).


	6. Out of the Frying Pan

"Tai?" Sora looked at the mysterious ma in black that looked exactly like Tai.

"There's no way!" Matt exclaims. "He's probably just a wanna be, a look alike!"

"Hmph," the other Tai smirked. "Always trying to be the rational one, aren't you Matt?" He puts his hands in his pockets and tried to walk closer.

MetalGarurumon readies his missiles. The other Tai stops, looking at the situation he's in.

"Who are you?" Tai demanded.

"Try looking in a mirror and asking that."

"This isn't a game!" Matt yells. "Tell us who you are right now!"

"And what will you do if I don't tell you? Or better yet, what if I do tell you and it's the answer you already know?"

"Rgh!" Tai stomps forward.

"That's a nice look," the other Tai smiled. "Too bad you had to outnumber and surround me to do it. Otherwise I'd actually be scared."

"Why you-!" Tai clenched his fist.

"Tai!" Sora calls on him.

Tai relaxes after a few seconds.

"Hmph," the other Tai sucker punches Tai.

"Tai!" Kari yells.

"That does it!" Tai tries to return the favor but his arm is held back.

"Don't do it Tai," Matt tells him.

"Tch!" Tai pulls his arm from Matt's grip and kicks the dirt.

"See what being a hero does?" the other Tai mocked. "It leaves you wide open."

"Rrr…"

"Though I have to admit, your digimon showed some impressive teamwork. I'm sure I could've overpowered them easily otherwise."

"You need to be quiet," Matt tells him. "Izzy, do we have something to tie him up? Like handcuffs or something?"

"Unfortunately," Izzy responds shamefully. "We don't. Even if we did, I'm not sure if anything we have can hold him."

"So our only option is to keep our digimon on high alert?" TK asks.

"To tell you the truth," the other Tai starts. "I'm surprised. I don't remember our digimon being this powerful."

"Our digimon?" Izzy questions. "You're a digidestined?"

"Of course, just look at me!"

"Why you-!" Tai takes his hands out.

"Tai!" Sora's voice stops him.

"At least tell us this," Matt interrogates. "What are you doing here?"

"Heh," the other Tai smirked. "Just like before, I'm looking for something."

"Something?" TK presses.

"I'm sure Gennai will know, if he bothers to tell you."

"You know of Gennai?" Izzy exclaimed.

The other Tai just smirked.

"We need to take him away," Matt suggests.

"Oh I'm not going anywhere," the Tai smirks.

Attacks rain down on their digimon, sand and dust were flung into the air.

"What's happening?!" Tai screams out, looking around at the geysers of sand, Garudamon and MegaKabuterimon have already degenerated to their rookie forms.

"You're not the only one that leads a group," the other Tai tells him.

Tai feels two shadows flying in from overhead.

"Darkness Claw!" a black digimon slashed MagnaAngemon with is claws, forcing him to degenerate.

"Extinction Wave!" a winged digimon attacked Angewomon with a sword, causing her to revert.

"Patamon!" TK calls out.

"Gatomon!" Kari cries.

"Double Impact!" MetalGarurumon is barraged by a hail of bullets. The attacking digimon dashed in at blinding speeds. "Darkness Claw!"

MetalGarurumon is tossed away, degenerating down to Gabumon.

"Gabumon!" Matt screams.

"Too slow!" the other digimon dashed to WarGreymon and assaulted him with various sword swipes. "Black Aura Blast!"

WarGreymon is blasted away, his form degrades down to Agumon.

"Agumon!" Tai yells. He tries to rush to his partner, but a bullet hits the ground in front of him.

"None of you move!" the black digimon orders as he and the winged digimon walked towards the other Tai.

"Izzy," Matt makes a request in his tone.

"I know, I'm scanning now.

Beelzemon, a demon digimon equipped with twin shotguns that he uses to permanently put enemies down. It can call its motorcycle at any time to speed around an opponent as he riddles them with bullets.

Leopardmon, a fast and agile knight digimon with a sword that flies faster than the eye can see. It can launch a powerful energy wave from its sword to annihilate its enemies."

"It took you two long enough," the other Tai greeted them.

"You can't be serious," the black digimon spoke to the boy. "Are you really losing to them?" The Digimon pointed one of his guns at the other Tai. "May be you're not fit to lead anymore." Beelzemon starts to deform, he turned into a very familiar blond boy, but he still held the digimon's guns. The other Tai however merely raised a fist at him, and it became engulfed in fire.

"Matt?" TK can't believe his eyes, the other boy looked exactly like Matt.

"What's happening here?" Matt mutters under his breath.

"That's enough of that," Leopardmon uses its sword to lower the other Matt's gun, the other Tai released the flames around his hand and lowered his arm. "Did you find the root?"

"It's over there," Tai pointed. "Deep under the ruins of Datamon's lab. Why don't you get it? I'm sure our… selves will have a lot to talk about."

"Fine…" the digimon flew upwards, annoyed, over to the area that the other Tai pointed to.

The other Tai smirked to the digidestined.

"So now the tables have turned," the other Tai taunted and walked towards Tai.

Tai grits his teeth.

"What's wrong? What happened to that look you had before?" the other Tai punches Tai.

"Tai!" Sora cries, she tried to move towards him, but the other Matt stops her with a bullet at her feet.

Tai stood his ground.

"Come on, what happened to your bravado?" the other Tai punched Tai again, repeatedly. "Why aren't you fighting back?!"

The other Tai stopped attacked for Tai to get back up and glare back at him.

"Just put him out of his misery," the other Matt walks up to Tai and puts a gun to his face.

Tai doesn't flinch, he doesn't even say anything, just clench his fists tighter as his face scowls harder. The other Tai notices Sora and Kari standing behind him.

"Hehehe," the other Tai starts to chuckle. Then he bursts out into laughter. "Hahaha! So that's it!" He shoves the other Matt aside. "You think you're protecting them?" The other Tai lifts Tai with just one hand. "I told you, you're too weak to protect anything, I will make you see that!" He gives Tai a much harder punch, knocking him back near Sora.

"Enough games," the other Matt interrupts. "I hate looking at your stupid mug, I guess killing him will have to do." He points his gun at Tai.

"No!" Sora jumps in between the other Matt's gun and Tai.

"Sora!" Tai tries to get up. A fire ball stops him.

"You stay down," the other Tai orders as the flames from his fist dissipates.

"Well now," the other Matt smirked. "This is something. Hey, you want to have some fun?"

"That's right, at this time she's probably…" the other Tai mumbles a bit. "Why not?" He took the other Matt's extra gun and pointed it at Matt. "You, move over."

Reluctantly, Matt walked slowly closer to Tai and Sora.

"That's enough," the other Tai looked at the other two, then back to Matt. "If you move, I'll just aim for another." Demostrating, he turns his gun to TK for a moment before putting it back on him. "Now, where you're standing, that's close enough for Sora to jump to you at the last second."

"What?"

"I'm going to count to zero," the other Tai explains to Sora. "And the both of us are going to fire once. You can only block one shot."

"Sora no!" Tai moves again, the other Matt shoots near him, much closer than the other Tai's attack. "Go ahead, I'm itching to actually hit you." Tai reluctantly stayed on one knee.

"5…" the other Tai starts counting.

Sora grits her teeth, she takes a quick glance at Matt. Her feet shift slightly. Is there any way out? Any way to protect both of them? To protect everyone?

"4…"

Her body shakes. Her heart pounds. Who… Who to save? Tai… Matt…

"3…"

"Please stop! I-…I'll-"

"2..." the other Tai smirked, seeming to deride pleasure from her panic.

Sora's mind raced between Tai and Matt, her body essentially froze in place.

"1.."

"Nooo!" Sora screamed in agony.

Two shots were fired, only one person was hit.

"AAARGH!"

"Tai!" everyone screamed out and ran to the boy, the two gun holders were stunned. Tai had pulled Sora's feet out from under her and jumped towards Matt. Tackling him as the guns had fired.

"Tai!" Sora kneels closely to him.

Everyone else rushed over as the two gunners just watched. Tai grits his teeth hard as he sits up. He gripped Kari's hand tightly from the pain he was feeling.

"Don't move too much," Matt instructs. He takes off his shirt, rips it up and presses it against Tai's shoulder.

Tai lets out a scream. He grips Kari's hand tighter, to the point of hurting the girl, but she kept as quiet as she could. She knew that Tai was going through much worse.

"Hahaha," the other Tai burst out laughing. "Hahaha! I don't believe it! You actually managed to protect them all! Hahaha! This is rich! This is just too good." He pointed his gun at Tai. "It's going to be fun to break you."

"Having fun you two?" a voice from above addressed them, it was Leopardmon.

"Did you find the root?" the other Tai asked.

"It's like you said," the Digimon answered. "It was under Datamon's lab. Way under. It took some time to dig through, but I've already destroyed it, it's going to explode soon."

"Good, then we're done here." The other Tai tossed the gun back to the other Matt and starts to walk away.

"We're just going to leave them like this Tai?" the digimon asks.

The other Tai stops at the mention of his name.

"Tai?"

"Hey Matt," he addresses the gunner. "What do you think of our names?"

"What are you talking about?" the other Matt responds.

"Let's let them keep the names, makes things less confusing for us."

"So what, you're going to change your name? Just like that?"

"I remember hearing that my digimon form had a similar name to a foreign god. So I think I'll go with… Yagami."

"And you go straight for god," The other Matt sighs. "Well if you're god," the other Matt points his gun at the other Tai. "Then I'll be a demon. My digimon form is a demon, right? Then I'll just take its name, Beel."

"What about you?" the other Tai asks Leopardmon.

"I'm keeping my name, thank you very much. You two do whatever you want."

A bright flash of light engulfs an area not too far from where they were. The three of them watch the explosion until it fades.

"It's time to go," the other Tai mentions to the other two.

The sound of a motorcycle rips through the air, the wheeled machine appears out of nowhere and rides up to the other Matt. The other Tai raised his hand, Leopardmon grabbed him and they flew off while the other Matt rode away.

 **XXX**

* * *

 **Author:** I had always inteded for the other two to be a Royal Knight and a Demon Lord. The only problem was deciding on which ones to use. Obviously I want the more humanoid ones but I also wanted some practicality with the forms, especially when it comes to humans turning into digimon. I mean, something like Kentarousmon or Leviamon isn't going to feel as... personal as what I've picked.

I originally didn't want to use Beelzemon, I tried really hard not to pick him but was the only one worth using. Belphemon was too monstrous, Lucemon too powerful, Barbamon too old, Lilithmon too booby, Leviamon isn't human shaped, and Daemon is on a beach side vacation. So Beelzemon was really the only choice I had. Still, I think it works out for the best, especially with the guns he has.

Leopardmon was more difficult to narrow down to. I immediately eliminated a good chunk of them just for story purposes, and like with Beelzemon's guns, I figure I could do some interesting things with the sword when in human mode. Also, when researching the Royal Knights I noticed that Leopardmon has something that most of the other Royal Knigths don't (or at the very least, not listed in the wiki), which I'm certain I'll be able to use in a later chapter.


	7. Cooling Off

"Is that it?" Coach Yamaki asks Sayo.

"Yep," Sayo answers "Just a little maintenance. Most of which I should be able to do myself."

"Alright, get to it whenever you can."

"Mr. Yamaki," Matt approaches them.

"You're Tai's friend, an original digidestined," Yamaki noted. "Did you need anything?"

"Unfortunately," Matt scratches his head. "Tai won't be able to make it to practice today, or the semi-finals game."

"What?" Sayo yelped in surprise.

"I believe I saw a notice about that," Yamaki responded. "He been hospitalized, right?"

"That's right, I was just making sure you knew," Matt replies.

"Thanks, tell him to get better fast."

"Will do," Matt starts to walk away.

"Hold on!" Sayo stops him. "What happened to Tai?"

"He's… hurt," Matt had struggled to find the right words to use. "He has to stay in the hospital for a few days."

"Which hospital is he in?"

"Sayo, we have practice today." Yamaki reminded her.

"Hmm…" Sayo thought for a second. "Can you stop by the soccer field later? I'll see if I can think of something to give him by then."

"No problem," Matt nods. "We were going to visit him anyway."

"Okay, I'll see you then."

XXX

* * *

"Hey Izzy," Joe walks into his office. "I've got the bullet shards you asked for."

"Thank you Joe," Izzy finishes typing something. He points to a glowing red tube. "Just put it next to that."

Joe puts the small jar of bullets next to the tube.

"How did the surgery go?" Izzy asks.

"The doctor says that there were no problems at all. It'll just take him a while to heal up."

"So we can't send him into battle anytime soon," Izzy mumbles.

"I don't think that will stop Tai," Tentomon comments.

"Uh huh," Gomamon agrees. "He'll be right as rain soon enough."

"You're right," Izzy smiles. "We mustn't fall behind."

"What are you doing anyway?" Joe wonders.

"I've been looking into this surge of digimon reports," Izzy turned his monitor to Joe, there was a map with a lot of glowing dots.

"Allow me," Tentomon starts to explain. "Each dot represents a digidestined. This is the data we have based on the reports we've received." The bug digimon presses a button, the screen then showed the exact same map, but with fewer dots. "This is the data we had yesterday."

"Whoa!" Gomamon gasped as Tentomon swapped between the two maps. "And I thought the fish mating season was busy!"

"Gomamon!" Joe yells.

"While we were expecting a steady growth of digidestined as time goes by," Izzy tells them. "This is unprecedented. I've already contacted Matt and the others about this, it seems that there were some small incidents because of the sudden appearance of all the digimon but most of them were handled without too much trouble."

"Do you think that those strange people are behind this?" Joe asks.

"It's more likely that what they're doing is linked to this," Izzy starts thinking. "I want to confirm with Gennai before making any conclusions. Luckily he agreed to a meeting, I'm just looking for a time to get everyone together."

XXX

* * *

"There you are," Sayo walks up to Matt, Sora and their digimon.

"Sorry," Matt apologizes. "I had some things to take care of."

"Its fine," Sayo pulls out a water bottle with a small envelope taped to it. "Here, this is for Tai."

"That's it?" Sora asks.

"That's a very unusual gift," Biyomon noted.

"Most people would buy flowers," Gabumon pointed out.

"I couldn't think of anything else I could get in a short amount of time," Sayo smiles. "Besides, I'm not the bouquet of flowers type. He'll understand."

"T-thank you," Sora says softly.

"You seem distraught," Sayo notices. "Just what happened?"

Sora stayed quiet.

"I'm sorry," Matt interrupts. "It's something we don't want to talk about."

"I see..." Sayo backs away. "Just let me ask, how is Tai faring?"

"He's fine," Matt answers. "I heard that the surgery wasn't too hard, but it'll take time for him to heal."

"It's Tai," Sayo reminds them. "He'll be back on his feet soon enough."

The group smiles.

"Still," Sayo continues. "Just let him know that if he needs anyone to talk to… No, wait. All of you will be there, by the time I get to him he should be back to normal."

"He will be," Matt responds. "Or I'll make him."

"Hehe, alright, I need to get going now." Sayo slowly jogs away,

"Wait!" Sora calls to her, the purple haired girl stops and turns back. "Even we are there, I think he would still like to talk to you."

A gentle breeze blows through, causing Sayo's hair to dance about. The girl gave a friendly smile, shook her head and started to talk. But they couldn't hear anything. She then continued on her way.

"H-hey!" Sora calls out again. "What did you say?"

Matt kneels down next to Gabumon, "What did she say?"

"'No, he doesn't need me if he has you.'" Gabumon answered. "What does she mean?"

"I don't know."

XXX

* * *

"Whoa!" Sayo just barely avoided a fireball. She rushed to the soccer field to see three digimon fighting each other. One was an Agumon with red straps on his hands, another was a red and white dinosaur one similar to Agumon, the last was more human shaped with dark skin and wild red hair and pants. Marcus, Takato and Takuya were trying to handle the situation.

"Agumon," Marcus calls. "Don't make me drag you out of there!"

"Come on Guilmon," Takato pleaded to the red and white one. "Stop already."

"Flamemon," Takuya speaks to the red haired digimon. "Calm down."

Sayo grabs a soccer ball and kicks it into the digimon, hitting Guilmon in the chin.

"Ow!" The red and white digimon cried. "That hurt."

The digimon stop fighting and everyone turns to face Sayo.

"Somebody mind telling me what's going on?" She demanded.

"Well," Marcus nervously starts. "As you can see, we got our own digimon now."

"Your own digimon?" Sayo pointed back and forth between the digimon and the three boys. "These are yours?"

"Yep," Takato answers. "We found them just this morning."

"Apparently they all just appeared when we woke up," Takuya explained. "It's not just us, some of my friends got digimon too."

"Same with mine," Takato added.

"My friends mentioned getting digimon today too," Marcus tells them. "This is too weird. Sayo, did Tai mention any of this?"

"Tai's not coming today," Sayo informs him. "They won't tell me why, but he's in the hospital."

"In the hospital? Did something happen in the digital world?" Takato asks.

"That's the only reason I can think of," Sayo tells him.

"Alright everyone!" Yamaki yells over. "Settle in. Sayo, do you think you can handle those digimon?"

"No problem," Sayo responds cheerily. "Come on you guys, you can watch them from over there."

"But… Takatomon…" Guilmon whined.

"It's okay Guilmon," Takato calms him down. "Sayo's a friend. Be sure to listen to her and be good."

"Okay," Guilmon responded happily.

"That goes for you too Agumon," Marcus tells his partner.

"Just don't cause any trouble okay Flamemon?" Takuya addresses Flamemon.

XXX

* * *

Matt, Sora and their digimon walk down the hospital hallway towards the room where Tai is. Opening the door, they see Kari and TK in the room already. Kari was sitting on the bed Tai was lying down on.

"… meet all the new digidestined," Kari finished saying.

"Hey!" Tai greeted them and waved. "Ow…"

"Tai!" Kari yelled at him. "How many times do we have to tell you not to move your arm that fast!"

"Looks like you've got your energy back," Matt comments. "That didn't take long."

"He's been wanting to get out of here since he woke up," TK tells him, holding back a chuckle. "Agumon and Gatomon have their hands full keeping him here. It takes Kari to really calm him down."

"Lying down here all day is driving me crazy!" Tai complains.

Sora giggles. "You really are eager, aren't you?"

"Well, yeah." Tai answers. "I don't know if I can stand being here too much longer."

"There's not enough food here," Agumon voices his main concern.

"That I agree with," Tai joins.

"We can't exactly bring a lot of food into a hospital," Kari mentions.

"Ugh," Tai groans.

"You need to relax," Sora walks up to him. "Here."

"A water bottle?" Tai takes the bottle and sees the letter. "This is a little odd."

"So is your manager," Sora smiles. "This was her get well present."

"This is Sayo's?" Tai slowly peels off the letter and hands it to Sora. "Here, I think I can guess what it's going to say."

"What?"

"'Don't dry up now, okay?'"

Sora opens up the letter and reads. "You're right. That's the only thing written on here."

"That's Sayo alright," Tai opens the bottle and takes starts to drink the water. After a couple gulps he sets it on the table beside him. "I don't know what is about the water Sayo gives us. Every time we drink it after a practice or game, it's really refreshing. But only after, it tastes like regular water otherwise, it's really weird."

"I told you she was strange," Sora smiles.

"Yeah, she is a little out there at times. That's right, my team has practice today."

"No!" Kari preemptively held him down. "You are not going anywhere."

"Oh darn…" Tai sighed.

The others got a chuckle in.

"Do you know when and where your next game is Tai?" Sora asks.

"It's in a couple days, just at the school," Tai answers. "But I don't think they're going to let me play even if I do manage to get out of here by then."

"If you are allowed out at that time," Sora starts. "We can still come by to cheer on your team."

"I'd still rather be out on the field myself though," Tai mentions. "You don't know how hard it is for me to just watch as my team plays."

"I think we do," Kari tells him. "You're always running out in front."

Tai quieted down at that comment, then he turns to Matt. "So, is there anything new?"

"Nothing yet," Matt informs. "Izzy's been trying to see if any of the digimon have seen those three. For an odd group, they're good at hiding."

"What about Gennai?"

"Izzy managed to get in touch with Gennai. He agreed to meet with us tomorrow. Izzy's trying to set a time for everyone to gather at the building."

"We need to come up with a name for that place," Tai comments. "Hopefully, I'll be able to get out of here soon."

"You need to rest," Sora tells him. "You'll heal faster."

"Hrmgh," Tai grumbled. "Waiting and healing aren't exactly my strong suits."

"You certainly have the energy," Matt tells him. "Use it rest up instead of complaining. Just leave everything to us for the time being."

"You're right," Tai sighed. "I really hate it when that happens. Just let me know if anything comes up. Especially those three." Tai gets ready to lie down. "I know we're going to talk about this tomorrow, but what do you think of those two… people?"

The room went quiet.

"They just look like us," Matt breaks the silence. "That's all there is too it."

"I don't think so Matt," Gabumon mentions. "I was able to get a scent. It's almost exactly like yours."

"And the Apollomon guy smells like Tai," Agumon adds.

"Are you saying that there is something about them besides their looks?" Matt asks.

"They seem to know about us pretty well," Tai tells him. "Like it's personal."

"I have a few ideas," TK speaks up. "But I think it's better to wait until we meet with everyone."

"Then I guess we'll have to discuss it tomorrow then," Matt concludes. "So you better heal up if you don't want to be left behind."

Tai sighed and lied down. "Guess we'll see you later."

"Come on you two," Kari speaks to Gatomon and Agumon. "I'll bring you back here tomorrow."

Everyone begins to leave the room. Sora stayed a few seconds longer before heading out.

"I looked back," Tai spoke as Sora reached the door. "I saw the reason I stay in front. To protect those behind me. Especially-"

"Sora?" Biyomon calls out to her partner.

"Huh?" Sora turned to Biyomon, whom was waiting for her on the hallway. "I'm coming." She turned back to Tai. There was only silence for a moment before she left the room.


	8. Lunar Revelation

**Author:** This chapter came completely out of nowhere, as in I came up with it on the fly cause it isn't in my early general planning. Mostly because I listed Sora as one of the main characters, but she hasn't gotten that much, er... fic time, can't have a pairing when one of the characters is lacking in fic time. Matt doesn't have that much fic time too, heck I think Marcus has more fic time than Matt, but he's not important to the main plot, I'll see if I can do something for Matt later on.

XXX

* * *

It was after school, the time the digidestined agreed to meet was still hours away. After some school activities, Sora was heading home on a path that passes by a small field. She sees 3 girls confronting a 4th, it was Sayo holding a soccer ball.

"This time I'm not going to let you get away!" the leader of the three girls, a girl with red twin tailed hair, wearing blue and pink clothes yelled out.

"That's what you keep saying," Sayo sighs. "Isn't there any way for me to get you off my back permanently?"

"Nope," a second girl, also red hair with a single tail, with black and yellow clothes answers. "When she sets her mind on something, there's almost no changing her mind."

"That's right," the final girl, black hair with black and white clothing, spoke softly. "Even we can't convince her out of it."

"Heehee," the lead girl smiles. "So what of it? Are you going to join the girls soccer team?"

Sayo let out a deep sigh. She manages to spot Sora looking at the scene as she passed by. "Hey!" Sayo called and waved to the other girl. "Do you have time? I need a little help over here."

Sora stopped in her tracks, she takes a quick look at the time. The meeting was still a while away, and she's sure her mother can take care of Biyomon in that time. Sora heads down to the group.

"Calling for back up?" the lead girl asks.

"Even I'm not match for all three of you," Sayo admits.

"Huh?" Sora stopped as she heard that line. "What?"

"Sorry to drag you into this," Sayo apologized. "But there's something I need your help with here."

"W-what did you need?"

"Alright," Sayo turns to the three girls. "Let's make a bet. It'll be you three against us two."

"Huh?" Sora's confusion got out.

"If you win, I'll join the team. If we win, you'll stop bothering me about it. Deal?"

"Heehee," the leader smiles. "Alright, what's the game?"

"What else?" Sayo drops the soccer ball she was holding and places a foot on it. "What do you say? We set up a couple nets around here and the first to 3 points wins?"

"Alright!" the leader energetically agrees. "You're on!"

"Hold on Nokia," the black haired one warns. "This is too good to be true."

"Yuuko's right," the yellow shirt agreed. "This seems too easy, she must have something planned."

"Whatever plans she has," Nokia declares loudly. "We can just power through, everything will work out Ami."

"But first," Sayo interrupts. "Can you give us 15 minutes for warm up?"

"Yeah sure," Nokia hastily agrees. "I suppose you need to tell Sora how to play the game. Ami, Yuuko, can you set up the nets. I'm going to go stretch."

Sayo picks up the ball and takes Sora with her to the edge of the field. "So sorry about that, they just won't let up."

"It's fine," Sora smiles. "I don't know if I'll be of much help though."

"I know you used to be a really good player," Sayo tells her. "It should be like riding a bike. Here, try some moves." Sayo passes the ball.

Sora starts by bouncing the ball up and down with her feet and chest. She loses the ball after a minute. Sora tries to control the ball between her feet and legs, imagining defending it from an opponent trying to steal. Again, she loses it after a while.

"I don't think I have it as much as I used to," Sora explains to Sayo.

"No," Sayo shakes her head and smiles. "It's still there, I'm sure of it. It's just rusty. Let's try some simple passes."

Sayo and Sora train together for the remainder of the time they have. Sora's skills were gradually returning, as was a strange sense of familiarity with Sayo.

"Here," Sayo offered Sora a bottle of water as their practice time was running out.

"Thanks," Sora takes the water and drinks some before giving it back to Sayo, whom also drinks from it. "Tai was right, your water is really refreshing after practice."

"He said that did he?" Sayo smiles as she stretches her legs. "Well, that's good to know."

"Has Tai, ever told you about us?" Sora asks.

"Nothing personally," Sayo answers crossing her arms over. "It's usually the other guys that ask him that stuff. Mostly about stuff from his digimon adventures, but he's careful about what he says."

"I see," Sora responds half-heartedly.

"He never says anything bad about any of you," Sayo continues. "Even Matt, which I'm sure that he has something for if I was reading those internet posts right."

"Is that so?" Sora sounded discontent.

"Whenever he was asked about you," Sayo stops stretching as her voice puts on a more serious tone. "He would always try to brush it off. Like he doesn't want to answer, or he doesn't know how to answer."

Sora doesn't reply.

"Hey!" Nokia calls to the two girls. "Are you ready?!"

"Let's go," Sayo smiles at Sora.

The two girls meet their opponents on the field. The game starts, Sayo and Sora were pushed on the defensive due to the numbers. Sora manages to steal the ball but loses the pass. Sayo blocked a shot to the net and managed to weave around Yuuko and Nokia. She passes to Sora, Sora protects the ball against Ami to the best of her ability. She makes a break for the net, Ami interrupted the shot causing it to go off side. The yellow shirted girl goes after the ball as Sora and Sayo regrouped.

"Huh," Sayo smiles. "This is going to be more difficult than I thought."

"Hey," Sora addressed her sharply. "Don't give me that, the game's only started."

"You're right," Sayo stands ready as Ami readies to bring the ball back it. "It's no use holding back, we might as well go all out from the get go!"

Sayo manages to intercept a pass between Nokia and Yuuko. Sora frees herself from any defenders as she heads to the net. Sayo sees this and passes to her. Ami tries sliding under Sora to get the ball. Sora manages to bring the ball up but trips over Ami. Nokia manages to take the ball, passes to Yuuko whom scores the first goal of the match.

Sora leads with the ball, Nokia and Ami rush her as Yuuko goes to cover Sayo. Sora holds her defences long enough for Sayo to break from Yuuko and signals a pass. Sayo takes the ball and races to their opponent's net. Yuuko manages to kick the ball away into an empty part of the field. Nokia is the first to take it and head back to Sayo and Sora's net. Sora aggressively guards Nokia, managing to steal the ball back from her and head to the net. Yuuko tries to intercept but Sora shoots just off side of her to Sayo. Sayo avoids being tripping by Ami's slide as she shoots towards the net and scores a goal.

"Nice!" Sora tells Sayo as they high five.

"Back at you."

As they play the game, Sora begins to regain a feeling that she hasn't felt in a long time. The rush of adrenaline, the teamwork, the excitement, it's all coming back to her. Coming back with those feelings are her skills, gradually forcing the other team on the heavy defensive. Both sides scored another point, but Nokia, Yuuko and Ami were breathing hard.

"Just… hold on a second…" Nokia panted. "This was supposed to be easy!"

"Sora is surprisingly good," Yuuko notes.

"I kind of figured that out," Ami stands up straight, ready for the next play. "Just how did she get that good?"

"NRGH!" Nokia growls. "We need a different plan. Ami, stay back and guard the net. Yuuko, look out for a pass, I'll take try to take the ball."

Sora carries the ball through the field, Nokia runs in to intercept. Yuuko stays back just enough put the two girls on alert, as she was in a prime position to intercept or steal. Sora dances the ball around Nokia easily, hoping to lure in Yuuko as she easily evades Nokia's attempts to steal. Yuuko stays firm in her position between Sora and Sayo.

Sayo sees this and rushes towards Sora, surprising Yuuko. Sora passes the ball to Sayo, Sayo pulls back as both Yuuko and Nokia close in. Sora runs to an open area of the field, Sayo manages to kick the ball away from her two defenders. Nokia and Sora rush for it, Sayo aims for the net instead with Yuuko right behind her, Sora gets to the ball first and quickly passes to Sayo. Ami covers Sayo as Yuuko comes in to help. Sora breaks from Nokia towards the net, Sayo sees her and passes the ball. Ami, adrenaline filled, bursts over to Sora. Sora got as close as she can and reared up for a kick. Ami slid ahead of the ball, Sora's kick hits the ball but the ball hits Ami's foot, causing it to spin. The ball curves as it flies to the net, it looks like it might not even make it into the net. The ball bounces off the ground in front of the net, the spin rolls it in for the score.

"Yes!" Sayo celebrates.

"Yeah!" Sora jumps up excitedly.

"No…" Nokia slumps over, defeated. "It can't be."

"Hehehee," Ami chuckles, she spread out on the ground, laughing out loud. "Hahaha! That was actually really fun."

Sora leans over her and extends a hand. "It really was." Ami takes the hand and is pulled up.

"I'm surprised at how good you are," Ami praises her.

"I used to play soccer a long time ago," Sora explains. "It just took a while for it to come back."

Sayo walks over to Nokia and extends her hand. "Good game."

Nokia takes the hand and is helped up.

"So, you'll keep your end of the bargain?"

"Yes…" Nokia droops over.

"And don't bother Sora either," Sayo adds. "If I know you, you'd end up bothering her after this if I didn't get your word."

"Alright…" Nokia begrudgingly agrees.

Sora, Ami and Yuuko gather around.

"Can you at least tell us how to get as good as you two?" Nokia begs. "If we don't get a win soon, the team will be disbanded by the school."

"Is that why-?" Sayo scratches her head. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"She doesn't like to admit being in trouble," Yuuko answers.

Sayo sighs. "Listen, I'll help you."

"So you'll join the team?!" Nokia hastily jumps and grabs Sayo's hands.

"Calm down!" Sayo orders, pulling her hands back. "I'm still not joining the team, but I can help you practice if you need it."

"Practice?" Nokia repeats.

"You know, training." Sayo explains fully. "I worked hard to play as good as I did. I'm sure with a little push, I can help you too."

"That's a good idea," Ami smiles. "How about it Nokia? If she helps us, we'll be able to win the next game!"

Nokia silently stood there for a moment. "N-no."

"Huh?"

"But why?" Yuuko wonders.

"We'll win the next game," Nokia confidently declares. "But it has to be on our own. There's no point in winning if we rely on a single good player to carry us through while we sit back and not improve ourselves. I know we lost this match, but we did together, we fought as hard as we could together, and I was able to feel it, our spirit. ALRIGHT! I'M ALL FIRED UP NOW!"

"Oh dear," Yuuko sighed. "When she gets like this, there's no stopping her."

"At least this time it's for the better, right?" Ami confusingly ponders.

Sora and Sayo look and smile at each other.

XXX

* * *

"Thanks again for your help," Sayo tells Sora as they leave the field. "And I'm sorry for suddenly dragging you into it."

"It's no problem," Sora replies. "You're a friend in trouble, so of course I'd help."

"Hehehe," Sayo giggles. "So what was it like, to play soccer again?"

"Hmm, how can I describe this?" Sora goes into deep thought. "It felt like something I've longed for was coming back to me."

"Huh?"

"I-I can't explain it exactly," Sora admits. "It's just this weird sensation that I've missed."

"Was there anything else?"

"I don't know," Sora ponders. "While the excitement and the rush was there, something did feel odd. Like it was nearly complete, I'm just missing a piece. I hope it doesn't bother me."

"Hmm, well when you used to play, you always had Tai with you, right?"

Sora stopped walking at the mention of Tai, her mind suddenly filled with thoughts of Tai.

"Sora?" Sayo leaned in on the frozen girl.

"Huh? Oh sorry," Sora snapped out of her trance.

"Thinking of Tai?" Sayo teased.

"W-what makes you think-?"

"I just mentioned him, and you suddenly stopped. It was kind of obvious." Sayo smiles. "Alright, now's probably the best time to ask. What do you think of Tai?"

"H-HUH?"

"We were interrupted last time, now it's just you and me. So tell me, what were you and Tai like back then?"

Sora hesitated to answer. "W-we were… we were…" Sora tries to find the right words. She can sense that outright lying will be no use, but she isn't sure about her own feelings about him now, especially with the rush of memories and feelings flooding into her just moments ago.

"It didn't go anywhere, did it?" Sayo cut into her thoughts. "And that's why you started seeing Matt? Because you know when you're actually progressing?"

"That's… I…" Sora is at a loss. Sure things weren't going anywhere with Tai since childhood, but Sayo is accusing her of seeing Matt just to get some progress in a relationship.

"I was like that too," Sayo speaks softly. "I grew up with someone since childhood, this really energetic boy that wasn't afraid of getting into trouble. But when I realized that I had feelings him, we weren't going anywhere. I don't know what it was with him, but I knew he had similar feelings about me, yet he couldn't act on them. Heh, it's quite silly isn't it, this guy usually acts before thinking, yet when it comes to me, he freezes up."

Sayo turns her back to Sora and looks at the stars.

"One summer, we both met with new friends and had the craziest summer adventure together. It was there that I met with another boy that became close friends with the both of us. Eventually I got tired of waiting for my old friend and I decided to move on without him.

But I can tell that my childhood friend had trouble moving on, I could sense that he still had feelings for me, even while he supports my decision to see his friend. Knowing this, I wasn't sure if I was doing the right thing. I knew that sooner or later I will have to choose between the welling feelings I had for him and the emerging feelings I have for his friend."

There was a moment of silence as Sayo continued to stare at the sky.

"What happened?" Sora asks.

Another moment of silence passed before Sayo looked straight ahead. "That's a story for another time," Sayo resumed her perky persona and turned to Sora, smiling. "Trust me when I say that I know what you're going through. Just make sure that you think carefully about the choice you make, otherwise you'll have nothing but regret and uncertainty."

Sora stayed quiet at her words.

"Man look at the time," Sayo starts a completely different conversation. "I hope I didn't mess with your plans or anything."

Sora tries to recollect her mind, she then checks the time. "Oh no!" Sora breaks into a run, stops and turns around briefly. "Sorry, I need to go!"

"Hang on!" Sayo tosses a water bottle. "Thank you!"

Sora catches the bottle, "Thanks!"


	9. Solar Resolution

**Author:** I'll be honest with you, I'm not too fond of this chapter. It's all plot, plot, plot... One of the major downsides of winging it. Just make stuff up as you go and hope it works out in the end. I have said before that I've got a general idea of how I want the story to go, as well as a few specific details on how to go about it, but then there's all that other stuff that needs to be taken care of along the way.

XXX

* * *

"Sorry we're late," Sora apologized to assembled digidestined in the meeting room. "I lost track of the time."

"You're legs are all dirty," Matt notices. "Did something happen?"

"It's nothing, really." Sora takes her seat and looks around, there were two empty seats.

"Now all that's left is Tai and Joe," Izzy comments.

"Tai's coming?" Sora asks.

"We just got word from the hospital," Tentomon explains. "It seems Tai had recovered enough to be released from the hospital."

"That's not least of it," Joe says as he walks into the room with Gomamon, Tai and Agumon behind him.

"You're here," Kari exclaims.

"No way I was going to miss this," Tai replies as he sat down.

"What did you mean that wasn't the least of it?" Ken asks Joe.

"I didn't quite get the details," Gomamon starts to answer. "But apparently Tai's recovery is unusually fast. Almost inhuman."

"He's definitely human," Agumon points out. "Those doctors don't know what they're talking about."

"It's true," Joe explains. "I looked at the records for gunshot wounds similar to the one Tai suffered, most people take several days or even a few weeks to recover the same amount that Tai has."

"Can we just skip all that and get to the meeting already?" Tai impatiently commands. "I'm just glad I'm out of the hospital, I don't care how."

"Alright," Izzy opens up his laptop and connects to the projector. "Here they are, the three… enemies. This one that looks like Tai, calls himself Yagami, and he can turn into Apollomon, a very powerful fire digimon with enough strength to overpower WarGreymon on his own. The next is the one that looks like Matt, he's calling himself Beel, after his digimon form, Beelzemon. From what I can gather, Beelzemon is both nimble and powerful, using his guns to wear down enemies before coming for the kill with his own two hands. The last one is Leopardmon, we don't know who it is under that mask, but the digimon is extremely agile and strikes very hard."

"A god, a demon and a knight," Tai chuckles. "That's quite the group."

"I said before that Apollomon can easily defeat WarGreymon. But with the combined might of WarGreymon, MetalGarurumon, MegaKabuterimon, Garudamon, Angewomon and MagnaAngemon we were able to fight against and beat him. But then Beelzemon and Leopardmon surprised us and wiped out the entire team very quickly."

"I'm not sure if we should count that," Tai complains.

"Yeah, those guys took us by surprise!" Agumon agrees.

"If it was a proper fight I'm sure we could win," Gabumon joins in.

"I'm sure we could," Izzy continued. "Assuming it's just these three."

"What do you mean?" Ken asks.

"The fact that two of them looked exactly like Matt and Tai is worrying," Yolei puts in.

"You think there are more of them?" Palmon wonders.

"It's a possibility," Izzy answers. "If we each have a… doppelganger, that means that the full enemy team has a total of 12 fighters."

"12?!" Davis' jaw dropped.

"So what?!" Veemon jumped onto the table. "I say bring them all on!"

"I don't think there's going to be that many," Tai mentions out loud, the others looked in his direction. "The… other me, Yagami, kept going on and on about wanting to see me… um… break."

"Yeah," Matt agrees. "Any time you protected someone, he took it as a stupid joke."

"What are you saying Tai?" Kari nervously asks.

"Whoever, or whatever he is," Tai starts to explain. "He lost something, perhaps someone, and is taking it out on me."

"Not to mention," Matt adds. "That the other Matt, Beel, seemed to be really aggressive, sometimes he'd point his gun straight at Yagami. I know we've had our personal differences," Matt turned to Tai, whom looked back at him with acknowledgement. "But we'd never go that far."

"Then there's the matter of the third person," Cody pitches. "We still don't know who that is, so it could be anyone."

"All we know is that it's someone that can calm down Tai and Matt when they start going at each other," Izzy comments.

Even though no one looked in her direction, Sora could feel that they were thinking of her.

"I think we should focus on the two lookalikes first before trying to figure out the third," Joe suggests.

"Agreed," Izzy nods. "Anyone have any ideas?"

"I have a few," TK volunteered. "As you know, I was thinking about writing down our adventures in the digital world into a series of books. To study for it I started reading, a lot. Sometimes I'd have the TV on just so that the room isn't too quiet."

"And?" Matt pestered.

"There's quite a few stories that has mysterious lookalikes popping up out of nowhere," TK pulls out a sheet of paper from his pocket. "For instance, long lost siblings or twins."

"Nope," Tai shook his head.

"Definitely not," Matt agreed.

"Clones," TK continues. "Either scientifically or magically."

"They seem to know our past," Tai tells him. "They're definitely taking this personally."

"I don't see how scientific clones would have memories," Izzy wonders. "Memories and personalities should not be cloned unless they were programed into them."

"He also said magic," Davis notes.

"Ah, the ever convenient excuse," Tentomon mocks.

"Alternate dimension selves," TK continues on.

"That one seems the most plausible," Ken comments. "We do know that alternate worlds exist. Who's to say that there aren't multiple human or digital worlds?"

"Time travellers," TK reads on.

"I know this," Davis shouts out. "The hero is from a desolate future and has to travel back in time to keep it from happening!"

"Except in this case they're causing the bad future themselves," Cody reminds him. "Why would they come back to destroy the world?"

"This next one probably fits into the magical clone thing but…" TK readies to speak the next line. "Manifestations of the character's traits, like all of your negative emotions given form."

"That sounds extremely complicated," Yolei tells him. "Not to mention convoluted."

"There's also the simple disguise either by an enemy or… something else," TK puts the paper away.

"The way they acted felt too genuine," Matt shares his thoughts. "There's no way they're disguising themselves, I'm sure of it."

"This is making my head spin," Mimi complains.

"I agree," Tai tells the group. "I know this is important, but I think we should be more worried about what they're doing rather than who they are."

"Hmm…" Izzy goes into thought. "I had hoped that trying to solve who they were would give us an edge on countering them. But it seems that there's just too many questions and not enough answers."

"At least their goals are clear," Gennai speaks. "They're destroying the roots of the digital world."

The room went quiet on that line.

"Honestly," Izzy began. "This is the first time I've heard of these 'roots'."

"Not very many know of it, even the number of digimon that know about it are scarce."

"So what are they?" Tai asks for the group.

"As you know," Gennai starts explaining. "The digital world is like a network. A network as large as the digital world requires a powerful core to process all the data traveling around at every instant. But spreading the information around the world is a difficult task for just the core itself, so it created 4 core roots to help control the flow of information all over the digital world. It also helps reinforce the walls between worlds.

If you think of the core as a tree that gives life to the digital world, then roots are what holds the world, and the tree, together. Destroying one of them causes an overload of information and energy, creating the explosions that you saw. Destroying the others will begin to unravel the digital world, creating tears in the dimensional space time barriers."

"You lost me," Mimi tells him.

"Basically," Izzy starts to summarize. "What they're after are what holds the digital world together and keeps the real world and the digital world safely separated, along with all the other worlds we know of. There are 4 targets, and they've already destroyed 2."

"We are already sensing cracks within the digital world," Gennai adds. "We are doing what we can to hold the digital world together, but we don't know if we can keep it that way should a 3rd root be destroyed. Preparations are in place to minimize the impact if it does come to that, but it's better that it doesn't happen at all."

"With the strength those guys have," Matt murmurs. "We might have to use _that_." He turns to Tai, whom nods back.

"To be honest," Izzy starts. "I'm not sure if even _that_ 's strong enough."

"What are you talking about Izzy?" Tai questions.

"All three enemies belong to special categories of digimon, one of which our trump card also belongs in. So theoretically he's only just as strong as one of them."

"That can't be…" Tai mutters.

"What about all the new digidestined?" Hawkmon asks. "I'm certain that they'll be willing to help."

"The digital world probably choose all those children as a last ditch effort to protect itself," Gennai starts. "But it's too early to call them into battle."

"I agree," Matt voiced his opinion. "I don't think they'll be able to handle it."

"So it's just us again," TK mutters. "Gennai, do you know where those roots are?"

"Unfortunately, no," Gennai answers apologetically. "The roots are very well hidden for a reason."

"So how are those three able to find them?" Yolei inquires.

"That we don't know either," Gennai answers. "We can only wait until they appear again"

"Again with the waiting," Matt speaks out.

"Don't worry," Gennai continues. "We are using this time to stabilize the digital world as best as we can. However, there is still one thing I'll need from you."

"What is it?" Izzy asks.

"I'm going to need piece of one of your digimon, the stronger the better."

"Huh? What for?"

"Do you remember the data I had you collect for me from Apollomon?"

"How could I forget? I was nearly roasted."

"I am currently studying that data to see if I can give you the same powers as they do, the power to transform into digimon."

The entire room stood up or jumped in surprise. Everyone started to bombard him with questions.

"Calm down," Gennai calmly goes on. "There's no guarantee that it'll work of course, even if it does work, we don't know what kind of digimon you'll turn into. You may end up becoming a Numemon."

"NOOOOO!" Mimi shrieked.

"Are you serious?" Joe questions.

"That's why I need data from one of your digimon, hopefully I can use it to narrow down the possibilities. Like I said before, the more powerful the digimon is, the better focused the choices are. We'll also need a volunteer."

"I'll do it," Matt spoke without hesitation. "And we'll use MetalGarurumon."

"Matt…" Sora muttered.

"Are you sure about this Matt?" Tai questions.

"I'm sure Tai," Matt smiles. "You've been through enough."

"I'm sure I can take more," Tai jokes as he flexes his shoulder.

"I hate to break your male bonding moment," Izzy interrupts. "But I don't think MetalGarurumon is the best choice for this."

"What are you talking about Izzy?" Matt questions.

"MetalGarurumon and Apollomon belong to two different digimon attributes, Data and Vaccine. They're also in completely separate families, where MetalGarurumon is from the Metal Empire while Apollomon is in both Dragon's Roar and Virus Busters. Not to mention that their elements are completely opposite, being ice and fire."

"Izzy…" Matt starts. "You can't-"

"I'm sorry Matt, but the best, closest match we have is WarGreymon. He's categorized as a Vaccine type, fits in the Dragon's Roar and Virus Busters families and is affiliated with fire."

Everybody turns to Tai.

"I'm sorry you guys," Izzy apologized, specifically to Matt and Kari. "But Tai and WarGreymon are our best chance for this."

"Who says it has to be Tai?" Matt cuts in. "I can still volunteer for this, can't I?"

Izzy shakes his head, "If we're going to use Tai's partner for this, it'd make more sense for Tai to do it."

"Izzy…"

"Stop it Matt!" Sora called out to the blond just before he completely lost it.

Matt took a long deep breath then looked at Tai. "You don't have to do this."

"To be honest," Tai replies. "I've been wanting to." Tai puts a hand on his shoulder and takes a quick glance at Sora. "They made it personal, so I'm personally going to make sure that they get what's coming to them."

"Tai," Sora's voice carried a lot of worry.

"What about Beel's bullets," Joe asks. "Can't we use those in the same way you used Apollomon's flames?"

"Unfortunately," Izzy began. "While the bullets did come from Beelzemon, they lack any significant trace of his data that we could use. Not to mention they've been stained in Tai's blood."

The room fell silent.

"There's one last thing I should mention that you should already know," Gennai informs. "When you turn into a digimon, you'll be able to feel any and every attack that you're hit with. Digimon by nature have a much higher tolerance for pain than humans. Are you ready for that?"

"I had a feeling that would be the case, but don't say anything to change my mind now."

"Alright, if that's decided then. I will still need a piece of one of your digimon."

XXX

* * *

"Um, guys? Is this really necessary?" WarGreymon asks, flat on the ground, with both MetalGarurumon and Imperialdramon sitting on top of him. "You're just going to take one of my horns, right?"

"I'm not going to lie," Zudomon tells him, smacking his hammer on his palm. "It's still going to hurt." Zudomon raised his hammer above his head.

"OOOOWWWW!"

XXX

* * *

"Here you are Gennai," Izzy hands over a special clear container with WarGreymon's broken horn inside of it.

"Thank you Izzy, I will let you know when it's ready."

"Owww…" Agumon whined, there was a cross shaped bandage on the side of his head.

"Sorry you had to go through that," Tai tries to give him his condolences.

"It better be worth it, I don't want you to turn into a Numemon."

Tai and Agumon smile at each other.

"Taaii!" Kari calls to them.

"Listen buddy," Tai starts. "Can you go ahead with Kari? I need to ask TK something."

"Alright."

Tai sees Agumon off and heads over to TK.

"Hey, TK."

"Hello Tai, did you need something?"

"Yeah, something's been bugging me and I figure you're the best person to ask."

"Me? What is it?"

"In all the stories you read or watched, how important are strange dreams?"

"Strange dreams?" TK crossed his arms in thought. "Like, how strange?"

"The realistic kind of strange, as in it feels very real until something wakes you up."

"Hmm…" TK closes his eyes for a moment to gather his thoughts. "Well, if a story puts emphasis on certain dreams, then it usually means that whatever happens in those dreams will happen at some point in the story. Other times dreams are used as messages of a sort to push the plot along.

If it's the first case, the character or characters will either wait for it to happen, or try to avoid it depending on the dream. Sometimes though, whatever happens in the dream can't be changed. If it's the second, then they usually want to find out what the dream meant, and whatever happened in the dream will happen in the story in some way."

Tai goes into deep thought mode.

" _Why? Why are you betraying us?! Answer me Sora!"_

" _Sora!" Tai dives to grab Sora's hand, Tai himself fell over the side but he grabbed the ledge. "I got you!" Tai struggles to hang on both the ledge and Sora. But Sora was slipping from his grip._

" _Do you hate me Tai? For what I've done? I'm sorry Tai, I won't ask for forgiveness, I know I don't deserve it."_

"Did… you have some of those dreams lately?" TK asks. "With all the stuff happening now, whatever's going on in your dreams might end up taking place out here. I've seen it happen in all the stories I've been through."

"No, my dreams are completely unrelated to what's going on. And, they make no sense when I try to put them together."

"That's what several characters though at first too, but the dreams happen anyway."

"Thanks TK, I… I'll need to think about this. Just don't tell anyone, alright?"

"If you say so."

XXX

* * *

Gennai walks into his private lab carrying the red tube, and WarGreymon's broken horn.

"You could use a little light in here you know," A voice speaks to him from the darkness.

"I work better in the shadows," Gennai replies.

"Heh. So, how are they?"

"They're holding together, but barely. They were beaten by the combined forces of that group. Even at their best, I don't think they have the power to stop them. Are you going to just stand by and watch the battle with these worlds, and their lives, at stake?"

The voice stayed quiet for a moment as Gennai places the red tube and the container with the horn onto a strange device.

"I don't want to fight, not against them." The voice spoke softly.

"I realize you have your reasons for not joining the battle, but the decision will be forced upon you sooner than you think, you will have to prepare yourself for that time. The question is not which side are you on, but which side are you willing to lose? You cannot save both."

The voice didn't answer, it couldn't answer. Gennai just started working on his computer not waiting for a reply.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm analyzing Apollomon's data to see if I am able to grant the digidestined the same power that they have."

"You're going to let the digidestined fight against them personally?" A double sided scythe sticks out from the darkness towards Gennai. "You're sending them to their deaths! I won't let you do it!"

"I am merely doing what I can to save the digital world," Gennai replied, not looking away from his computers. "The digidestined are willing to do whatever it takes to protect what they hold dear, no matter the cost. Surely you understand their feelings."

The weapon shivers slightly before dropping. The voice put its blade away and disappeared into the shadows.


	10. Eclipse

**Author:** Just like the previous chapter, this chapter was a little difficult to write (and it looks like the next chapter will be more of the same too). I'm a shipper through and through, but I always struggle with the heart to heart conversations.

 **XXX**

* * *

The whistle blows and the game starts. Marcus leads the team against their semi-finals opponents as Tai watches at his team's bench, still not fit enough to play. Agumon, Guilmon, Flamemon and Agumon all root and cheer for the boys. The digidestined that managed to make it also cheered. Matt, Sora, Kari, Mimi and their digimon all showed up at the game to support Tai's team. Tai stays focused throughout, he would occasionally cheer for his team, but his mind was not at the game.

" _Sunfire Punch!" Apollomon attacks WarGreymon in the chest, completely shattering his armor. "Weak. Just like I remember. You're too weak. Everything you have, everyone you know and love. All of it will be lost. You're too weak to protect anything, I will make you see that!"_

" _With the strength those guys have," Matt murmurs. "We might have to use_ that _."  
"To be honest," Izzy starts. "I'm not sure if even _that _'s strong enough."_

" _When you turn into a digimon, you'll be able to feel any and every attack that you're hit with. Digimon by nature have a much higher tolerance for pain than humans. Are you ready for that?"_

"Hello?" a girl's voice snapped him back to reality.

"H-huh?" Tai jerked up to see Sayo standing over him.

"Jeez," Sayo sighed. "You're really out of it."

"Sorry," Tai apologized.

"Marcus and the others are really going at it," Sayo tells him. "I haven't seen them this fired up."

"Yeah."

"Looks like the coach's motivation worked, then again who could resist a free meal? He better hope they don't order from the expensive side of the menu."

"Uh huh."

"Well, now I know something is wrong."

"Yeah."

Sayo looked at him annoyed. "Hmm… Those digimon sure can eat. I had to make 4 times the cookies to keep them satisfied."

"Uh huh…"

Sayo let out an annoyed growl, she pours water down on his head.

"Hey!" Tai jumped out of his seat. "What was that for?"

"You were drying out on me. And I don't mean your head." Sayo tilts her head and stares at Tai for a moment. "Huh, the water gives your hair a nice sheen."

Tai grumbled and decided to shake his head.

"Hey!" The fire digimon all cried out at him as water sprinkled on them.

"Sorry," Tai apologized.

"Now, are you ready to talk?"

"I'm not sure," Tai sits back down. "I have a lot of things on my mind."

"Is it about the digital world?" Say sits next to him.

"I guess there's no use in hiding it, huh?"

"You go into the digital world, get yourself hurt, again mind you, then all of a sudden half the team and their friends gets digimon. Yeah, there's no hiding it."

Tai nervously laughs.

"Is it very serious?"

"Yeah," Tai admits, not wanting to say anymore.

"It's not like you to be nervous."

"I didn't say I was nervous."

"You didn't have to, I can tell." Sayo took a deep breath. "I don't like seeing you like this. You can talk to me Tai, please."

"Gonna play psychologist now?"

"No, I'm going to be a friend. Just… don't hold anything back, it's no good to keep it in."

Tai stared at her for a moment, not knowing how to respond, then sighs. "Alright… the enemies this time are strong, very strong."

"I'm sure you've dealt with stronger, right?"

"Stronger? May be, but we always had something else on our side to help us. I'm not sure if we'll be able to get anything like that against these guys. Not that I like relying on unexplained help too much, but in this case I don't think we can rely on anything else besides our own strength."

"Then what do you normally rely on?"

"Our teamwork," Tai says as Marcus scores a goal. "It's the only thing that really got us through this far."

The two of them watched as the team play, Marcus, Takato and Takuya were doing well on their own. Together they match the opposing team more than equally.

"Tell me something Tai," Sayo suddenly starts. "Why are you the team leader?"

"Huh?" Tai looks at her confused.

"I don't know if I can put it any other way," Sayo calmly adds. "Surely, there must be a reason that you were made the leader, right?"

Tai closed his eyes for a moment. "To be honest, I think it just happened."

"Just happened? How?"

"Well," Tai sits back, trying to get comfortable. "When we had our first adventure in the digital world, we didn't really have a leader or anything like that. We were just trying to survive together. I think…" Tai paused as he sat forward again. "I think it was when Sora was taken by Datamon that everyone started to think of me as the leader. Before that, I tried to force my way into that position. There was a lot of resistance, mostly from Matt. Yeah, it was only after Datamon took Sora that I actually became a leader, or at the very least I was looked up to as one by the rest of the group."

"Hmm…" Sayo put her fingers to her chin in thought. "If that's where you feel that you really became a leader, then what was it about that time that made you feel that way?"

"I… I don't know…" Tai answers honestly. "Everyone was supporting me, pushing me to go save her. Even though it was extremely risky with how powerful Etemon was, they… we, were all doing it to save Sora."

"But you had the strongest reason to save her, right?"

"Well, yeah, it was because of me that she was taken in the first place. I think that the others knew how I felt about it and that's why they did what they did."

"What about you?"

"What about me?"

"You said you relied on the others, you believed in them to do their things, as a leader would. But did you believe in yourself?"

"What do you mean?"

"It sounds like you had quite the guilt trip after Sora was taken. You had the drive to go back to her at least, but did you have the heart?"

Tai remained silent at the question, trying to think back to that time. "To be honest, I really did want to save her, but I wasn't sure if I was ready to face her. When I had to run ahead to where Sora was, I kind of froze."

Sayo waited patiently for Tai to continue.

"There was this wall with a hidden pathway where if you didn't find it and tried to go through, you'd die. Agumon offered to just blast through it, but I knew that if he did that, I wouldn't be able to… redeem myself."

"What was going through your mind?"

"A lot of things. 'I have to save Sora, everyone's counting on me, what if I'm wrong, what if I'm too late?' Stuff like that."

"Sounds like a really rough time."

"It was, it really was. All the pressure the team put on me. No, that's not right, the team believed in me. It was my own self-doubt that was stopping me."

"So what was it that pulled you through?"

"Luck, I guess?" Tai shrugged.

"Do you really believe it was just luck?" Sayo puts a finger at the center of Tai's chest. "You need to think about your real power. You have your friends, you have your teamwork, but you've lost something here since then, or rather since this whole thing started. I don't know what caused you to lose it, but I have a feeling you'll need to get it back. Okay?"

Tai stayed quiet. His team managed to score another goal, the crowd cheered but Tai and Sayo were in their own little space for a moment before Sayo pulled back and loudly cheered herself. Sora, Kari and Mimi had noticed Tai and Sayo conversing with each other, and they can tell just by looking at them that the topic was heavy.

"What do you think they're talking about?" Mimi inquires.

"I don't know," Kari answers. "Ever since our last meeting, Tai's been… quieter."

"Is he still hung up on that?" Mimi asks, annoyed. "That's not like him. It must be serious."

"He's been trying to hide it from me," Kari explains. "Every time I try to get him to talk to me about it, he brushes it away."

"Really?" Mimi's face displayed shock. "He seems fine talking to Sayo about it."

Sora starts thinking. "Should he be talking about that to her though? She doesn't have a digimon."

"She might not, but she's still a friend, right?" Mimi counters.

"Still, to just be talking to Sayo about the things only we should know."

"Oh?" Mimi sneers. "Is there a problem with talking to a friend?"

"N-no," Sora protests. "I'm sure that Sayo is capable of keeping to herself, but Tai shouldn't be talking to her about the major digital world problems."

"I don't think Tai can hide anything from her," Kari speculates. "Every time I meet her, she's been able to read Tai easily. Almost like she's known him a lot longer than we think she does."

"I get that feeling too," Sora replies, softly. "But still, why would he talk to Sayo and not us?"

"Jealous?" Mimi suggests with a certain look in her eyes.

"N-no!"

Mimi giggles a little. "Honestly, I don't know why Tai chose her to talk to. The only reason I can think of is that Sayo isn't involved with the incidents, and she isn't as close to Tai as we are."

"Is that why?" Sora asks. "Because we're too close to him?"

"He probably knows how we'd talk to him," Kari implies.

"Or he could just want someone else besides us to talk to about his problems," Mimi suggests. "Sayo's pushier then most of us too, so she'll be able to get Tai to talk better than the rest of us. I'd like to know what they're talking about. Any ideas Kari?"

"None," Kari answers. "All I know is that Tai hasn't been himself since the meeting."

"Hmm…" Mimi ponders, then shivers.

"Huh?" Sora looks at her friend confused.

"I just had the image of Tai turning into Numemon."

"I… I don't think Tai would be bothered about that," Kari speaks nervously.

"But the hair…" Mimi whines.

The girls winced at the thought.

"I think it would be better to ask him about it," Mimi suggests.

"If he'll even answer," Kari replies.

"It's worth a try at least," Mimi tells her.

"I can talk to Sayo," Sora informs. "Kari, think you'll be able to get to Tai?"

"I have been trying…" Kari depressingly replies.

"I'll give it a shot," Mimi volunteers.

"Mimi?"

"If there's anyone that can get people to talk, it's me!" Mimi proudly boasts.

XXX

* * *

"Whoo!" Marcus cheered as the time ran out. "Yes!"

The team won the game 3 to zero. The crowd loudly cheers in celebration. Tai got up slowly, clapped and smiled. Marcus, Takuya and Takato were all jumping around energetically. The digimon ran up to their partners to celebrate with them. Tai's Agumon just walked next to Tai, the two partners just smile at each other.

"Here," Sayo tosses a water bottle to him. "Don't dry up now." Sayo then goes to join the rest of the team.

Tai smiles and takes a drink from the bottle. He sees his friends coming down to the field. Marcus, Takuya and Takato's friends were also heading towards the team.

"How're you feeling?" Matt asks.

"I'm excited," Tai smiles. "But it's really weird to see the team win a major match without me."

"You just wanted to hog all the glory," Marcus jokes.

"Darn, you saw right through me," Tai chuckles a bit. "You did a great job Marcus. I knew you guys could do it."

"You don't want to join in?" Marcus points at the large group of people surrounding Takato and Takuya.

"You go. You deserve it."

"Thanks man, that means a lot."

"Just don't get too comfy, there's still one more match."

"Yeah," Marcus walks back to his group of friends. "And it's the big one! So you better get better!"

"I will!" Tai yells back.

"He seems to be enjoying this," Matt comments.

"Well, the coach made a bet with the team," Tai smiles. "He's going to be treating us later."

"More food?"

"I can't wait!" Agumon excitedly leaps.

"I'm jealous," Gabumon grumbles. "Can we switch?"

"Sorry you two," Tai apologized. "It's for the team only."

"Whaaat? Why?" Agumon whined.

"I think the coach knows about how much it'll take to feed just one of you, let alone four."

"When is it?" Kari asks.

"He just needs to find a good place first, then he'll tell us."

"I don't know…" Mimi scans the coach. "He looks the type to care more about the price than the quality."

"Good luck," Matt jokes.

"Yeah thanks." Tai sarcastically replies.

Tai looks at his celebrating team and their friends. He smiles for a bit then starts walking away. "Let's go."

"You're not going to celebrate with them?" Matt asks.

"This is their win," Tai tells him. "I'm more worried about our next match."

Tai and the others quietly walk off the field. Sora felt someone watching them and turns around, she sees Sayo looking at them with a concerned look. The two girls locked eyes for moment, Sayo nodded silently to Sora before rejoining the soccer team.


	11. Warming Up

**Author:** Just like last time, this is mostly a hear to heart chapter, which I admit I'm not really that good at, and it feels a little redundant right after the last chapter.

XXX

* * *

"Hey Sayo," Sora walked up to the purple haired girl's desk immediately after class.

"Hello," Sayo replied with a smile. "Wait." She looks around quickly. "Are you talking to me? Here? We almost never talk to each other unless one of the other digidestined was around."

Sora smiled, "There was that soccer match we had before."

"That was an emergency," Sayo replies. "You just happened to be there, luckily for me."

"And we had that small talk afterwards."

"I feel like I talked more than you did then. Oh, is this about that?" Sayo's face perked up. "Did you already decide?"

"Wh-what?"

"You can tell me," Sayo leans in. "I'm good with secrets."

"N-no," Sora nervously backs off. "It's not about that."

"Oh, really?" Sayo calms down. "Well, that's no fun. So, what did you want to talk about?"

Sora takes a quick look around the classroom. "Can we move to somewhere more private?"

"Huh? I-I… I don't swing that way."

"What?" Sora blushed for a moment before realizing what Sayo said. "I-I told you it's not about that!"

"Hahaha…" Sayo laughs to herself. "I kid, I kid. Follow me, I know a good enough place."

Sayo leads Sora around the building to the bleachers of the soccer field.

"Here?"

"No one's using the field," Sayo answers. "There's a few people but there's a lot of free space. It's a good place to be alone with your thoughts."

The two of them found an empty area to sit down in.

"So what did you want to talk about?" Sayo inquires.

"It's about Tai," Sora answers softly.

Sayo just raised an eyebrow and looked at her questionably.

"I'm telling you it's not about that," Sora protested. "It's about his… troubles…"

Sayo closed her eyes for a moment and took a breath. "I'm not sure if I should be the one to tell you about that."

"But he won't talk to us, and it's worrying."

"That does sound like him," Sayo comments. "I don't know what I can tell you."

"Please, just tell me everything you know."

"If you're sure," Sayo sighs. "Tai's been… worried."

"Worried?"

"Which is unusual for him. All I know is that it has something to do with all the trips to the digital world he's been making recently, especially those injuries he keeps getting. Do you think you can tell me what happened?"

Sora thought for a moment, then shook her head. "I'm sorry, I can't."

"That's fine, I know it's a tough memory for you. But I won't be able to understand Tai's problem until I know what happened."

"Can you just tell me what he told you? Why is he so… distant?"

"He's real bad at hiding it, which is why you, and I bet Kari too, can sense it. He knows that but he still wouldn't be open to you guys about it, right?"

"But why?"

"I think it's the same reason as always, he doesn't want you to worry. No wait," Sayo started to think. "I believe it's more that he doesn't want to look weak."

"Weak?"

"Tell me Sora, what's your picture of a leader?" Sayo leaned back and looked up to the sky.

"A leader… hmm…" Sora closed her eyes to try and imagine it. "I guess… someone strong, brave and can bring people together."

"Exactly," Sayo exclaims. "That's the kind of pressure Tai is feeling. Not only does he have his personal reasons to lead the team, the team has expectations of the leader. Which is why Tai doesn't want to talk to you all about his problems, it makes him look… unfitting."

"But that's-!"

"Stupid? Yeah, it certainly is." Sayo sat straight back up. "Then there's this enemy he keeps talking about. Apparently something strong enough make him worry like that."

Sora stayed quiet, not wanting to talk about what had happened in their last encounter with that group.

"I see…" Sayo affirms softly.

"What?" Sora is shocked out of her trance.

"They're not just powerful, they're personal, right?"

"What are you-?"

"The way you're acting gives it away. But it's exactly at this point in time that the team needs to reassure Tai that he's not alone, that they can take care of themselves without him looking back every second and getting attacked while he's distracted. He trusts you all, he knows how strong you can be, but he also knows how fragile you are too. Look at Marcus and the rest of the soccer team. Tai might have been worrying about the digital world the whole game, but his eyes were always on his team."

Sora is stunningly quiet for a moment. "In the digital world…"

Sayo's ears perked.

"Both him and Matt were threatened by… the enemy. He told me that I can protect only one while the other gets hurt, and I had to choose fast. I didn't know what to do, I tried pleading with them but they wouldn't stop. I kept looking at Matt and thinking about Tai. I just… froze." Sora took a deep breath. "At the last second, Tai pulled my leg and jumped to Matt, he managed to save us both but he got hurt instead."

"Is that what happened?" Sayo asks sincerely.

Sora whimpered momentarily, her eyes started to well up at the memory. "It's all my fault!" She covered her eyes with her hands. "If I had just-!"

Sayo slaps Sora in the face. Sora didn't respond, her face is frozen in shock. Sayo turns her full body towards her and grabs her shoulders.

"Whatever you do, do NOT say thing things like that," Sayo angrily states. "That's the kind of talk that Tai doesn't want to hear coming from you, ANY of you."

"But-!"

"Listen! Tai is not blaming you, is he? The only person he's blaming is himself, he doesn't feel he's strong enough to protect you all. Which is why you and the rest of your group are really important to him right now. You have to show him that you're capable of fighting without him having to shield you all the time. He wants- no, he needs to focus on the fight itself. The moment you cry in pain is the moment Tai gets hurt. Don't let him hear you, just power on through it until the fight is over. Otherwise… otherwise…"

Sora and Sayo just locked eyes for a moment. Sora saw tears in Sayo's own eyes, she could feel the other girl's grip tighten. Her speech felt… personal.

"Sayo?" Sora tried to reach for Sayo's face, but the other girl pulled back and wiped her eyes.

"I'm sorry, I forgot that I'm needed somewhere right now," Sayo abruptly gets up and leaves the worried Sora.

"Sayo wait!" Sora tried to give chase but the girl managed to get away. "Sayo..."

XXX

* * *

"Heeey!" Mimi called out to Tai after school, she was rushing towards him.

"Mimi?" Tai turned to her, confused.

Mimi stopped right beside him and leaned in close. "Are you busy today?"

"N-no, not particularly."

"Good!" Mimi jumped excitedly, she grabs Tai and drags him around. "Then let's go shopping!"

"Wha-Hey! Mimi!" Tai protests.

Mimi was able to force Tai to go with her into the shopping center.

"I better not be a pack mule," Tai grumbled.

"I promise it'll be light," Mimi giggles. "Besides, this is for you and your team."

"My team?"

"Yup," Mimi nods happily. "It's for when you win the finals."

"I'd rather wait until we actually win the finals before getting… whatever it is we're getting."

"Oh come on, even if you lose its worth celebrating for just being able to get that far, right?"

"I suppose, but it's still too early for this."

"It's never too early to get ready for a party. Come on!"

"Why me?"

"I need you to help me measure up the rest of your team."

"Wait, what?"

"Like I'd know their sizes just by looking at them."

"Even I don't know! I don't even ask!"

"Ah, but I am good at comparing sizes between people," Mimi smiles. "So I just need your size and I can get a good idea of what your teammate's sizes are."

"You… you can do that?"

"Never underestimate a girl and her fashion sense," Mimi smiles confidently.

"You're not going to do this for every single one of my teammates are you?"

"Hmm… I see your point, may be just those three that you seem to really get along with."

"You mean Marcus, Takato and Takuya?"

"Yeah, them. Except for Marcus, you seem all to have a thing for goggles."

Tai doesn't know what to say to that.

"Now let's see… what kind of design should we go for?"

"Why are you asking me? This was your idea."

"I know, I know," Mimi waves off his complaint. "I was just thinking out loud. Why don't we walk around and see what we can find?"

"Just let me call Kari, she's going to have to take care of Agumon if you're pulling me around all over the place."

Mimi drags Tai all over the mall. She pulls him into every clothing store along the way, while taking notes on a notebook.

"Hey Tai," Mimi speaks through the curtain as Tai tries on a shirt.

"What is it?"

"What do you say we get something for your manager too?"

"Sayo? You're having a hard time just finding something just for the team."

"But she's just as important to the team as any of the other guys, right?"

"I guess…"

"How long have you known each other?"

"Since the start of the year, she volunteered to be our manager. Hey how's this?"

"Mmm…" Mimi jots down something on her notepad. "A bit too much red, here try this one. So you've only known her since the start of the year? You'd think she'd stand out with that look of hers."

"She's a transfer student."

"So a transfer student appears out of nowhere and gets everyone's attention including the team captain. Sounds like something out of an anime."

"What are you talking about?"

"I like to keep up with all the unique fashion designs those shows like to have. So I have some sort of TV experience like TK has."

"How's this?"

Mimi gives Tai a good look over, then scribbles something down. "Okay, I think that's all we can get from here."

"Just how many more places are there in here?"

"I'd say… 3, there's only 3 stores left worth going through. Let's go." Mimi leads Tai to the next shop as she scribbles something.

"What are you doing?" Tai tries to lean in to see Mimi's pad.

"Taking notes, I know that the stores won't have the kind of design I have in mind. So I'm having you try out several shirts to see what would go well with your team so that I can order some custom designs. Hmm… but Sayo's going to be a bit trickier."

"You're not going to make me try girl clothes are you?" Tai asks worried.

"Now that's a thought!" Mimi jokes. "Though now's not the time. May be later."

"You're actually thinking of making me do it?"

"I said not now," Mimi counters. "We'll just focus on your team for now, I can look for Sayo's another time. Though I'd like to know her better."

"I'm sure she's be willing to hang out with you. You just need to ask."

"I know, I know. But I don't know if I can bring up anything to talk about. Do you have anything I can use?"

"I don't think so, I never ask about her personal life."

"Just anything will do."

"Hmm… sorry, all I can tell you is that she's good at soccer, and baking."

"Baking?"

"Yeah, she always brings some cookies for Agumon to eat whenever we have practice or a game. She's going to have to start making more for the new digimon that the other guys have."

"Well it's not that hard to please a digimon with food. There really isn't anything else you know about her?"

"Sorry. It's like I said, I've never asked about her personal life. We meet mostly on the soccer field."

"But you've gotten comfortable enough to ask her to Matt's concert. How did that happen?"

"She's just a friend."

"Come on…" Mimi leans on him. "I can tell that there's more to it than that. The way you two are so comfortable with each other, if I didn't know any better, I'd say that you've been friends for a long time."

"What are you talking about?"

"I heard from Kari and Sora, they say you've been talking to her more than you've been talking to them."

"What? That's not true. I only see her about twice a week."

"I'm not talking about your regular day to day talks. I'm speaking about more… personal things."

"Huh?"

"Don't think we didn't see you two during your game. You were flirting weren't you?"

"N-no!" Tai nervously answers. "Me and Sayo? There's no way we were-"

"Oooh?" Mimi has a mischievous leer on her face. "If you weren't flirting, then what were you talking about?"

"I-it's nothing!"

"It definitely didn't seem like nothing. So…?"

Tai felt an immense pressure coming from Mimi. He sighs. "It was about… them."

"Them?" Mimi repeats. "You mean…"

"Yeah…" Tai looks around for a place to sit. "Let's go over there." Tai and Mimi heads over to a bench and sat down.

"So why did you tell her about them?" Mimi asks. "We're supposed to keep the digimon troubles to a minimum, which means telling as few people as possible."

"She's not the type to back away easily. But I trust her."

"More so than Sora and Kari?"

"No! There's just, some things that I don't want them to know."

"So you're trying to put up a strong front." Mimi sighs. "But you know how well they can read you. So why tell Sayo but not them?"

"It's… personal."

"Sure it is, that's why you chose to tell someone you only knew for a few months over your sister or childhood friend."

"I can't tell them, or anyone from the team."

"You're worrying them even more by keeping it to yourself."

"…"

"So what did you actually talk about?"

Tai breaths out heavily. "It's about how… strong they are. If Izzy's right, then we'd be facing up to 12 of them, all Mega level enemies at least as strong as WayGreymon."

Mimi didn't say anything, waiting for Tai to finish explaining himself.

"I know we've faced some crazy odds before, but nothing like this."

"And because you're the leader, the pressure you must be feeling must be immense."

"We have to take the fight to them, but I don't know if we can."

"And what did Sayo say?"

"She said I lost something," Tai bumps his chest. "That I need to get it back in order to fight."

"Hmm… to be honest, I kind of agree with her on that." Mimi pulls Tai's face closer to hers. "Yeah, you're definitely missing that one usual look in your eyes. That's probably what Kari and Sora noticed too."

"Am I really that easy to read?" Tai pulls Mimi's hand from his face.

"Only to your closest friends. I'm certain Matt notices too, but he's just letting you deal with it."

"That doesn't sound like him."

"Better than getting punched in the face, right?"

"I think I'm going to need one of those."

"As long as you can keep your focus on what you need to do, I'm sure Matt won't trouble you. More than any of us, he trusts you the most. So that's why-"

Tai's phone starts ringing, Tai reaches for it and recognizes the number. "It's Izzy. Hello? … What?! Where? … Did you get Matt? … What about Davis and Ken? … Alright, I'll be heading over as soon as I can. Tell them not to start without me… No, you should stay back and keep an eye on things. And get Kari's gate ready too, she has Agumon." Tai closes his phone.

"Is it them?" Mimi asks.

"Yeah, we need to find a computer, and fast."

"My home's not too far from here, and I need to get Palmon too. A quick ride would only take a few minutes."

XXX

* * *

In a forested area, where Myotismon's castle once stood. A large energy ball hovers above the trees.

"Sun Ball Burst!" Apollomon hits the ground as strong as he can with his energy ball.

After the explosion clears, Beelzemon and Leopardmon inspect the crater. The blast revealed a large glowing blue sphere with small blue energy flowing to and from it towards the ground. The only visible damage that can be seen is a single large crack

"You're losing your touch," Beelzemon taunts. "This much ground, but the root is still intact."

"The tree must be strengthening its roots," Leopardmon speculates. "But…" Leopardmon pulls his sword back. "Black Aura Blast!" Leopardmon thrusts his sword forward, the tip of the sword fires a powerful energy beam towards the crack. Leopardmon finished his attack, more cracks appear where Leopardmon hit. "Every defense has a limit."

"Stand back weaklings," Beelzemon steps forward. He points on of his guns at the place Leopardmon attacked.

"Flower Cannon!"

Confused, Beelzemon took a look at his gun until an energy ball knocked it out of his hand.

Beelzemon, Apollomon and Leopardmon turn to where the attack came from. They saw Lillymon, Garudamon, Angewomon, Imperialdramon Dragon Mode, MetalGarurumon and WarGreymon.

"They're here," Apollomon comments with a hint of satisfaction.

"Hmph," Beelzemon calmly walks over to pick up his dropped gun. "Good, I was getting bored."

The digidestined all land a short distance away in two groups, Tai and Matt, and Davis, Ken, Kari, Mimi and Sora. They all had a glare in their eyes.

"That look," Apollomon smiles as he stares at Tai. "I like that look in your eyes. Too bad you can't do anything with it."

"We'll see," Tai responds as WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon dissolve into data. The two data forms swirl around each other, wind blows out as the data starts to create a form for itself, a blinding light shines from the fusion. Omnimon emerges from the light, cross armed as wind blows its cape, in front of it was Matt and Tai, full of determination.

"We're not holding back this time!" Davis enthusiastically yells as Imperialdramon changes into Fighter Mode. "You and all your friends are toast!"

"Our friends?" Apollomon chuckled. "What friends?"

"Are you talking about those weaklings that used to hang around us?" Beezelmon questions. "Let me tell you something, when weaklings follow the strong, they get destroyed in the crossfire."

"What?" Matt angrily responds.

"Easy Matt," Tai calms him down. "So you don't care for anybody?"

"We only look out for ourselves," Apollomon answers. "It doesn't matter what happens to the others."

"You didn't seem that way when we lost-" Leopardmon is interrupted by Apollomon bringing his fist up to him.

"You do NOT want to finish that."

"If you really are us, then what happened to turn you into… that?"

"Heh," Apollomon smirks. "Wouldn't you like to know?"

"I do, and we'll get the answers out of you one way or another!"

"That's exactly what we've been waiting for," Apollomon gets into a ready stance, flames engulf his whole body for a moment. The flames dissolves gradually, leaving his wrists and ankles covered in swirling fire. "Your very best, against our very worst."

Beelzemon smirks, he preps one of his claws, covering it in a dark aura. Leopardmon swipes its sword down and gestured for the digidestined to come.

Tai clenched his fists, his eyes were on fire.

In the distance, a mysterious figure watches over the battlefield, clutching a digivice.


	12. Heated Battle

A mysterious figure watches as the digidestined stand face to face with the knight, the demon and the god. With them stood Omnimon, Imperialdramon Fighter Mode, Garudamon, Angewomon and Lilymon. Their enemies stood posed, ready to battle at a moment's notice.

Apollomon flies forward towards Tai, "Sunfire Punch!" His fist collides with the flat side of a sword.

Omnimon swings with all its might to send Apollomon away. Bullets bounce off his armor. "Supreme Cannon!" Omnimon takes out his cannon and fires at Beelzemon.

The demon jumps away from the blast.

"Get'em!" Davis calls to his digimon.

"Positron Laser!" Imperialdramon fires a beam at the flying Beelzemon.

"Black Aura Blast," Leopardmon's dark energy wave intercepts Imperialdramon's. "Let the boys have their fun. I'm more than enough for all of you."

"Boys?" Mimi repeats.

"Wing Blade!" Garudamon launches her firebird.

"Extinction Wave!" Leopardmon's slash wave slices through the firebird.

"Celestial Arrow!"

"Flower Cannon!"

Leopardmon easily avoids the attacks, flying closer to the attackers. It dive kicks Angewomon to the ground. Imperialdramon punches the knight square on.

The knight quickly recovers from the attack, "Not bad, I actually felt that. Extinction wave!"

"Transcendent Sword!" Omnimon swings his sword.

"Darkness Claw!"

"Sunfire Punch!"

Beelzemon's dark aura claw and Apollomon's flaming fist stop the sword.

"Double Impact!" Beelzemon shoots Omnimon in the face.

"Supreme Cannon!"

Beelzemon and Apollomon stops blocking sword, Beelzemon evades below while Apollomon goes high. Omnimon's attack flies into the air.

"Sunfire Punch!" the lion digimon hits the white knight's face full force.

Omnimon steps back, then counter punches with his blue arm. Bullets riddle Omnimon from all over. The knight looks around for the source, Beelzemon was riding his bike in circles around him. The demon moves so fast that he seemed to vanish at points.

"Sun Punch Arrow!" Apollomon rapid punches several fireballs at the knight.

Omnimon covers himself with his cape until he could get his bearings. "Supreme Cannon!" The knight fires in the direction the fireballs were coming from.

"Darkness Claw!" Beelzemon drops from above and swipes at Omnimon's face. He kicks the knight's shin, dropping him to one knee. "You're pathetic." The demon blasts the knight's face with his gun.

Omnimon gets up and punches the demon upwards. The knight then brings his sword up and swings down on the demon, sending rocks and dirt into the air.

"Sun Ball Blast!" Apollomon throws a large energy ball at the knight.

"Supreme Cannon!" Omnimon attacks the energy ball. The explosion covers the sky.

"Darkness Claw!" Beelzemon strike from below and brings Omnimon down to one knee again. The demon backflips, his foot knocking the knight upwards.

"Sunfire Punch!" Apollomon flies in and hits the knight with a powerful blow.

Omnimon drags his feet into the ground to stop sliding back. "Transcendent Sword!"

Apollomon and Beelzemon avoid the slash wave. Omnimon dashed in front of the lion, bringing his blue arm up from below.

"Supreme Cannon…" Omnimon's blue hand connects with Apollomon, knocking him above. "Uppercut!" The Supreme Cannon blasts the lion point blank, the energy beam sends Apollomon into the sky. The attack reached the clouds before exploding.

Beelzemon's motorcycle flies into Omnimon. "Double Impact!" Beelzemon attacks his own bike, causing it to explode. Omnimon sends a slash wave through the cloud into the demon.

"Positron Laser!"

Leopardmon flies around it towards the fighter. He slashes as he flies by. The fighter falls back, Leopardmon stops its fall with a single hand and prepares to stab it. His face is drop kicked by flowery boots.

"Flower Cannon!" Lillymon rapid fires her attack.

Leopardmon avoids and deflects the shots.

"Wing Blade!"

"Celestial Arrow!"

"Extinction Wave!"

Leopardmon slashes the firebird in two and catches the arrow, easily crushing it with one hand. He flies in and knocks aside the bird and the angel. Lillymon tries to counter, but the winged knight merely dodged and ignored her.

"Gotcha!" Imperialdramon grabs Leopardmon and slams him into the ground. "Positron Laser!" Imperialdramon's laser blasts the winged knight deeper into the ground.

"Black Aura Blast!" Leopardmon uses his attack to fly out of the ground. "Extinction Wave!" The winged knight hits the large dragon in the head.

Garudamon and Angewomon fly in to physically attack the knight. Leopardmon effortlessly avoids everything they throw. Angewomon lands a spinning kick, disorientating the knight. Garudamon brings both hands together and smashes Leopardmon down. The knight recovered before landing.

"Flower Cannon!" Lillymon fires her attack.

"Black Aura Blast!" Leopardmon's attack blasts through the energy orb, the attack narrowly missed by Lillymon's head.

The knight jumped to dodge Imperialdramon's laser. Only to be hit by its fist. The knight spun around wildly for a few seconds before recovering. Angewomon lands an axe kick that spins him around some more. Garudamon comes in from above and punches the knight into the ground. Imperialdramon flies above them, aiming his gun.

"Extinction Wave!" Leopardmon aims for the dragon's legs, causing him to tumble over just as he fired his gun.

The beam hits Garudamon and Angewomon. Leoparmon grabs Lillymon and slams her into a tree, he brings his sword up and ready to stab her but Imperialdramon's beam knocks him off. Leopardmon hovers as he faces off against his four opponents.

"Supreme Cannon!"

Apollomon and Beelzemon avoid the attack and charge the great white knight from two sides.

"Double Impact!"

"Sun Punch Arrow!"

Omnimon keeps firing his cannon at Beelzemon. Then swung a slash wave at Apollomon. Both opponents easily evade the attacks.

"Sunfire Punch!" Apollomon's fist ignites an inferno.

Omnimon blocks with his sword. Apollomon's burning flames push hard against the blade.

"Supreme Cannon!" Omnimon aims behind him. He fires a large beam, using the momentum to push back against the lion digimon. "Transcendent Sword!" Omnimon breaks through the lion's flames and opens his defenses. Omnimon swings again, blowing the lion away.

Beelzemon blitzes Omnimon with blinding attacks.

"Supreme Cannon!" Omnimon aims his cannon straight down. He creates a massive sphere of energy around himself, stalling Beelzemon in place. A slash wave attacks Beelzemon and blows him away.

Leopardmon notices the state of the other battle. "Hmm…, let's have some fun." Leopardmon flies towards the larger group of digidestined.

"Not so fast!" Imperialdramon flies between him and the digidestined. "Just try getting through!"

"Challenge accepted!" Leopardmon pulls his sword back. "Black Aura Blast!"

"Positron Laser!"

The two attacks collide, Leopardmon dashes through the clouds ready to thrust his sword into Imperialdramon. The great dragon grabs the knight's sword.

"Nice try."

"That's my line." Leopardmon releases his sword and speed blitz's the dragon from all angles. He dive kicks the larger digimon's elbow, causing him to drop the sword. The knight quickly catches the sword and strokes it as Imperialdramon recovers from the assault. He poses elegantly as the dragon starts to loom over him.

Two energy blasts hit him in the back. The knight turns around and sees the three ultimates fly towards him. He blocks Garudamon's fist with his blade. Angewomon and Lillymon spin kicks him in the gut. Angewomon follows with a dive kick, her foot is grabbed and she's tossed towards the dragon. Lillymon goes face to face to punch rapidly. Leopardmon evades all the attacks and flies off.

"Wing Blade!"

"You never learn!" Leopardmon brings his sword up to slice the attack.

"Positron Laser!" Imperialdramon's attack breaks through Garudamon's firebird, hitting Leopardmon square on.

"Tch!" Leopardmon grabs his flying sword and aims for the digidestined. "Black Aura…"

Lillymon flies in his line of sight.

"Heh," Leopardmon smirks and quickly changes his target. "Blast!" The dark energy beam hits Garudamon with full force, forcing her to degenerate.

"Biyomon!" Sora yells worriedly.

"Imperialdramon!" Davis cries to his partner to attack.

Leopardmon sees Apollomon creating another giant glowing energy ball. He twists his blade to blind Imperialdramon. "Extinction Wave!" Leopardmon swings his sword rapidly, sending a barrage of slash waves that overwhelms Imperialdramon.

The dragon falls to the ground as it is hit by a barrage of slash waves. Leopardmon pulls his sword back as dark energy surrounds it.

"Stop!" Lillymon kicks the sword upwards.

"It's too late," Leopardmon responds with a hard punch to the gut, knocking her out. "Far too late." He lets Lillymon's body fall to the ground as he catches his sword. He pulls it back again, gathering dark energy around the blade. "Black Aura…!"

Angewomon flies in front of him and unleashes a cross of light.

"Heaven's Charm!"

"Blast!"

Angewomon's attack collides with Leopardmon's. She tries to push back with all of her might, but the angel is overpowered. Leopardmon's attack engulfs Angewomon completely. Imperialdramon knocks the angel away just as she degenerated, taking the full brunt of the knight's attack. Leopardmon's attack dissipates, the knight watches Imperialdramon falls over.

"Now…" Leopardmon glances over to the digidestined. "Extinction Wave!" The knight launches a slash wave at Davis and Ken's feet, knocking them out. Leopardmon flies past Kari, knocking her out by hitting her back with the hilt of his sword. He stops in front of Sora and grabs her by the neck.

"Sor-!" Mimi is stopped by the knight's sword under her chin.

Without paying any attention to Mimi, Leopardmon lifts Sora above his head. "Call to them. Scream for me."

Sora struggled against the digimon's grip. She tried everything she could to fight back.

"It's pointless," Leopardmon tells her. "Now scream!"

Sora managed to glance over to the other battle. There was an explosion, but Matt and Tai were focused on battling the other two digimon. Leopardmon tightens his grip on her neck, Sora struggles to breathe.

"Scream, call out his name. You want him to save you right? What are you waiting for?"

Sora doesn't say anything, just glares back at the digimon. Leopardmon looks back at the determination in her eyes. He tries gripping harder, Sora winced, hacked, her struggle weakened, but she didn't call for help.

"Tch," Leopardmon, pulls Sora closer to his face. "How boring, I don't feel like killing you yet." He throws Sora away and watches her tumble on the ground. He then turns to Mimi. "You though…" He slides his sword forward beside Mimi's neck. He twists his blade quickly, slicing off a good chunk of Mimi's hair. Mimi's eyes widened for a moment, the knight calmly walks past her. Without turning back, he knows that Mimi dropped to her knees. "Now to finish things. Black Aura Blast!"

"No!" Sora yelled.

Leopardmon's attack pierces through the cracked area of the large sphere. It didn't take long for the sphere to crack apart and disperse into the air. Sora watches despairingly. The loose data streams flutter all about, scattering energy everywhere. Whatever remains of the sphere glows brightly. An energy explosion lights up the immediate area.

"No!" Tai screamed.

"It can't be," Matt mutters.

"Looks like she got bored," Apollomon mentions. "Let's finish this then."

Apollomon and Beelzemon charge Omnimon. Beelzemon dashes ahead.

"Darkness Claw!"

Omnimon blocks the attack with his sword. The knight sees Apollomon holding Beelzemon's guns, except they're on fire. Apollomon barrages the knight with fast, powerful, flaming, exploding bullets. Beelzemon speed blitzes from every angle. Omnimon is overwhelmed by the combined attacks.

"Omnimon!" Tai and Matt cry out.

Beelzemon raised his arm above his head, "Behemoth!" Beelzemon's motorcycle appears in the sky, it falls on top of Omnimon pinning him to the ground.

"Sun Ball Blast!" Apollomon throws a massive energy ball at Beelzemon.

"Darkness Claw!" the demon grabs the energy ball with his dark energy covered hands. The energy ball gets tainted by the dark powers, tuning the ball from a fiery orange to an evil dark purple. Beelzemon suplexes the energy ball on top of Omnimon. The ball digs into the ground for a few seconds then erupts into a tall pillar of dark fire.

The fire fades away, all that's left is a crater with Omnimon, smoking, sprawled out at the bottom. Apollomon walks up beside Beelzemon

"Are you finished?" Leopardmon hovers down behind Apollomon. "The tremors will be here soon."

"Yeah, we're done."

"Not yet," Beelzemon jumps down. "If this really this the best they have, then we won't be able to get any more fun out of them. I'm going to end this now."

"No!" Tai and Matt charge forward.

"No don't!" Sora calls after them.

"Extinction Wave!" Leopardmon knocks them away with a slash wave.

Tai and Matt sit up and glare at the digimon.

"Heh," Apollomon smirks, he jumps into the crater. He sees Beelzemon pulling back his claw, ready to impale the fallen knight. The lion grabs the knight's cape, pulls him out from under Beelzemon and tosses the knight up right next to the two digidestined.

"Oi!" Beelzemon gets up and stomps to Apollomon. "What do you think you're doing?!"

"Not yet," Apollomon tells him. "They can still fight back, we won't be able to savor their desperation until the battle for the last root. That's when it'll be the most satisfying."

"Hmph," Beelzemon crossed his arms. "They better not make the final battle boring."

The area all around them starts to shake violently.

"The first tremors are here," Apollomon notes as the shaking intensifies.

The ground starts to crack and split, chunks rise and fall randomly, the cracks widen all over the place.

"Sora!" Tai gets up to see Sora struggling to stay on her feet. The boy rushes to where she falls over, the ground beneath her gives way. Matt follows right behind him.

"Sora!" Tai dives to grab Sora's hand, Tai himself fell over the side but he grabbed the ledge. "I got you!" Tai struggles to hang on both the ledge and Sora. But Sora was slipping from his grip. "Nngh!"

"Tai!" Sora sees Tai's hand slipping off the edge.

"Hang on!" Tai tightens his grip on Sora as his other hand slips some more.

"You can't!" Sora cries.

"I'm not… letting you go!" Tai grunts out.

Ken, Davis and Kari are shaken awake by the earthquake.

"Wha? What's happening?" Davis looked around, panicked.

"They must've destroyed the root!" Ken surmises.

"Tai!" Kari calls to her brother.

"Imperialdramon get up!" Davis yells at his unconscious partner. "We need to help them!"

"Lillymon!" Mimi shakes her flower friend. "Please!"

Sora sees Tai's other hand about to give way, knowing that they'll both fall if he continues to hold her, Sora closes her eyes.

Tai sees her eyes close. "Sora? Sora no!"

Sora shakes her hand from Tai's grip.

Matt grabs both Tai's and Sora's hand, using the momentum from his jump he runs on the cliff wall, "HaaAARGH!" Matt tosses Sora up on the ledge.

All three digidestined hang over the edge of the cliff, dazed and amazed at what just happened.

"Hehehe… hahaha!" All three laugh out loud.

"I can't believe you did that," Tai compliments Matt.

"I can't believe it worked," Matt responds.

All three pull themselves up and off the side of the cliff. They all smile at each other. Matt and Sora's eyes locked for a moment. Tai notices the glint in their eyes, he glances down and away.

"Look out!" Tai shoves Matt away as fireballs fly past them. A couple hits Tai in the back, "Argh!"

"Tai!" Sora cries out, she tries to reach for him. Matt holds her back as Tai stumbles on his feet, smoking coming out of his back. Sora just looks at Tai, fear and worry written on her face.

"Hey!" Beelzemon pulls a gun on Apollomon's head. "That's my target!"

"Relax, it worked out. He just annoyed me."

Beelzemon swings his claw at Apollomon.

"Stop," Leopardmon blocks the attack with his blade.

"Stay out of this if you know what's good for you."

"We need to get out of here before we get sucked into the tears," Leopardmon informs him as another tremor shakes the earth.

The rocks under Tai's feet break away. Tai falls backwards into the chasm.

"Tai!" Sora tries to reach for him again, but Matt reluctantly holds her back.

"Hmph," Beelzemon grumbled. "Now we won't be able to get that entertaining final fight."

"Too bad," Apollomon nonchalantly replies as he watches Tai fall. "I was really looking forward to ripping him apart. Hopefully the others will make up for it."

Sora stared down the chasm, Tai's body faded into the dark depths. Tears well up in her eyes.

"No…" Kari collapsed on her knees.

"Ngh!" Davis punched a nearby tree in frustration.

"Tai…" Mimi mutters.

Matt stood with his back to Sora, clenching his fists. "We need to get out of here."

No response.

"We can't do anything right now," Matt pulls Sora back form the edge and forces her away from the cliff.

"I was expecting a little more angst," Apollomon sounded disappointed.

"What did you take me for back then?" Beelzemon asks aggressively.

"Doesn't matter," Leopardmon tells him. "We buried our old selves a long time ago." Another tremor shakes the area. "That should be the last one, the dimensional tears will show up soon. Let's go."

The three digimon start to walk away from the same scene Matt and Sora are walking away from.

A loud metal clunking sound gets everyone's attention. They all turn around to see a strange object sticking up from where Tai fell. Some kind of polearm with large curved blades on both ends.

"That's-!" Apollomon recognizes the weapon as a figure flies up from the abyss.

The figure lands next to the weapon. It was a white and blue armored digimon cradling something, someone in its arms. There was a familiar puff of hair sticking out from its arms.

"Tai!" Sora exclaimed. She broke free from Matt's arms and ran to the digimon.

"Sora wait!"

It gently places Tai on the ground as Sora and Matt arrive. Sora kneels next to the boy and tries to shake him awake. "Tai! Tai! He's not answering!"

The digimon places a hand above Tai's body, a light shines down from it, blanketing the boy. Tai coughs out.

"Tai!" Sora hugs Tai.

"S-Sora?"

"Tai…" Kari's eyes welled up as she saw Tai safe and sound.

"Thank goodness," Mimi mutters, wiping her eyes.

Sora looks up at the armored digimon. "Thank you."

The digimon nodded.

"Why?!" Apollomon shouts over the distance.

The digimon turns around, grabbing its weapon.

"Why are you betraying us?!" Apollomon yells frustratingly.

The digimon just goes into a fighting pose, Sora notices its grip on the weapon tighten greatly.

"ANSWER ME SORA!"

"Sora?!" Matt repeats.

The digimon didn't budge from its pose. Apollomon, Beelzemon and Leopardmon all stood, waiting for something to happen. Several tears rip the sky apart, opening portals to the human world.

"The dimensional barriers are weakening!" Ken yells. "We need to get out of here!"

"No," Kari stands up. "No it can't be! Ken! Do you feel that?"

"Yeah," Ken nodded. "It's coming."

"Feel what?" Davis panics. "What's coming?"

"The Dark Ocean," Ken and Kari nodded at each other. "We need to get ready, Imperialdramon!"

More tears rip the sky, this time they lead to all sorts of worlds, including the world of dreams.

"We should go," Leopardmon mentions to the other two.

Apollomon clenches his fist, flames erupt from his hands and feet, he goes into a battle pose, staring down the white and blue armored digimon.

"There's no time!" Leopardmon berates Apollomon.

"This won't take long," Beelzemon steps forward with his gun ready.

"Giga Crusher!" Imperialdramon unleashes a powerful laser at the three digimon.

Leopardmon uses his sword to block the attack, it still had enough force to push him into the other two digimon. All three catch their footing.

"I'll take care of him for good!" Beelzemon gets ready to break.

"Supreme Cannon!" Omnimon fires his own powerful beam. Beelzemon turns to catch it, he gets pushed back as well. Apollomon manages to hold one hand on each beam.

"So you still had some fight left!" Apollomon steps forward, pushing back the two energy beams. "But it's not enough! You can't beat us with this weak amount of power."

"We're not trying to beat you with power," Ken tells him.

Another tear opens up behind the three digimon, this one leads to the Dark Ocean.

"What?" Beelzemon realizes their plan.

"Nice try!" Apollomon steps forward again, pushing the two beams back with Leopardmon and Beelzemon.

"Push! Push!" Davis yells at his partner.

Imperialdramon unleashes more power, Omnimon's energy seems to fly faster. The three enemies slide back again.

"NNNRGH!" Apollomon grips the ground with his feet to stop sliding. He steps forward once, twice, with Beelzemon and Leopardmon behind him. Then he stops. He sees the blue and white armored digimon holding its polearm like a bow, with a magical string as the digimon pulls it back with a glowing ice arrow.

Apollomon and the armored digimon lock eyes for a moment. Sora sees the digimon's arm shaking, hesitating. Apollomon's eyes first displayed confusion, then rage.

"RAAAGH!" Apollomon takes another step forward, then another. He keeps focused on the armored digimon until Lillymon flies up to his face.

"Flower Cannon!"

The surprise attack knocks Apollomon off his feet. The force of Omnimon and Imperialdramon's attacks finally knock Beelzemon and Leopardmon off the ground, sending all three flying into the Dark Ocean.

XXX

* * *

The digidestined made their escape from the unstable area with the help of the unknown digimon. Gennai and his accomplices managed to calm everything down soon after. The digital world is recovering and the threat to it was banished forever.

The friendly digimon healed everyone and started to leave.

"Wait," Tai calls to it, it stops. "Sora, right? Thank you."

It doesn't seem to respond to that.

"Where are you going?"

Without turning around, it gestures that it doesn't know.

"Do you want to come with us?"

"Are you sure about this Tai?" Matt asks.

"She saved us," Tai responds. "We should at least hear her out. Well, Sora?"

It doesn't answer, it starts running and jumps up to fly away.

"She's going through a lot," Sora tells him. "I think we should just let her be. But those eyes, those sad eyes, I feel like I've seen them before…"

"Sora?" Tai was about to ask something as his phone rings. "Izzy?"

"Sorry it took so long to call you," Izzy apologizes. "There was a lot of things happening here in the real world because of the dimensional barrier breaking down."

"But everything's okay, right?"

"Affirmative, Yolei, Joe and the others got the situation under control. They even had some help from all the new digidestined."

"That's a relief," Tai breathes out calmly. "Say Izzy, did you get the name of that digimon that helped us?"

"I thought you'd never ask…"

"Uh huh," Tai nods. "Thanks… Yeah I'll see you later."

"What was the name of the digimon that helped us?" Sora asks.

Tai turns to her to answer.

 **XXX**

* * *

 **Author:** Well, the threat is gone but mysteries remain, some with rather obvious answers. XD The only real problem now is, will Sora be willing to talk about it or will there be a confrontation between her and Tai?


	13. A New Leaf

"So what have we got?" Tai asks Izzy.

It's been a couple days since they sent Apollomon, Beelzemon and Leopardmon into the Dark Ocean. All of the digidestined have gathered to discuss the situation.

"Because of those three destabilizing the digital world," Izzy begins as he types on his computer, setting up a projector for everyone to see images. "There's been a great surge in the digidestined all over the world."

"That's good, right?" Mimi asks.

"Not always," Izzy answers. "There's been a few incidents, but nothing serious. I'm more surprised at how fast they seemed to bond. When the third root was destroyed, there were reports of digimon coming through the cracks and causing trouble. But thanks to the new digidestined, the damage was kept to a minimum."

Izzy displays several pictures of people with digivices and digimon partners battling wild digimon. A few of them included Marcus with GeoGreymon and their friends battle a Tyrannomon, Takato and Growlmon with their friends against a Monochromon, and Takuya and Agunimon with their friends fighting a Seadramon.

"See how they already reached the Champion level?" Izzy asks.

"Yeah," Yolei answers. "It's only been a couple days. I wouldn't be surprised if they can go Ultimate within the week."

"That's way too fast," Cody complains.

"Hopefully they'll be able to control their partners," Matt comments.

"I think they will," Izzy responds. "Since now there's no need to go Ultimate, let alone Mega."

"Is there anything else?" Tai asks.

"Just some government complaints and inquiries," Izzy sighs. "Me and Gennai has some long days waiting for us."

"Umm, good luck?" Tai couldn't think of anything else to say.

"What about the other Sora?" Sora asks. "Did you find out anything about her or her digimon form?"

"Unfortunately, no," Izzy answers. "The information I have just says 'A goddess digimon that rules over water and ice. Not only can it fight with grace and power, but it can also heal and support other digimon, especially those closely attributed with water.' I don't have anything else, not even a sighting. She just disappeared."

"That's not necessarily true," Gennai walks in.

"Gennai," everyone greeted.

"You all seem well."

"Well, yeah!" Davis replies enthusiastically. "We managed to beat them!"

"True, but we're still missing answers." Gennai pulls out some sort of radar and a strange device with an indentation in the shape of a digivice.

"What are those?" Joe asks.

"While researching the enemy's digivolution, I discovered that they leave behind traces of a specific kind of digital energy."

"So that will help us find her by following the traces," Ken surmised.

"Correct."

"It's already been a couple days," Matt inquires. "Will there even be anything to follow?"

"You still have my nose, Matt," Gabumon tells him.

"Then what about that other thing?" Mimi wonders.

"That's for Tai," Gennai walks over to Tai with the other device. "I realize you don't need it anymore, but if you put your digivice here, then it will give you the ability to transform into a digimon."

"Really?" Tai's eyes glowed.

"Are you sure about this?" Kari asks.

"There's no harm in having it now," Tai answers. "I really want to see if I can turn into a digimon." Tai takes out his digivice and puts it in the machine.

The digivice glows, bars on the screen slowly light up.

"So," Tai turns to Gennai. "How do I do it?"

"I don't know," Gennai answers.

"What?"

"All I've been able to give you is the ability to transform, I don't know exactly how they were able to do it."

"This is going to be one of those 'you'll have to figure it out for yourself' type things isn't it?" Tai asks annoyed.

"I'm afraid so."

"Good thing there's no rush," Tai grabs his device as soon as it was finished. "Hey Agumon, want to help me out?"

"Sure!" The digimon excitedly answered. "I can't wait to see what you turn into."

"Izzy, can you set my gate to somewhere private?"

"There's lots of forests in the digital world, I'll just drop you off in one."

"Thanks."

"In the meantime," Matt take the other device. "I think we should be looking for their Sora. I don't think we can really close this unless we have her answer our questions."

"I better come with you," Sora suggests. "I think I can talk to her more easily than anyone."

"What about us?" Joe asks. "Is there anything you want us to do?"

"There's really nothing else," Izzy answers. "You're all free to do whatever you want."

XXX

* * *

In the middle of a forest, Tai inspects his digivice at all angles, in the sun, shaking it wildly, etc.

"I have no idea how to do this," Tai mumbles. "Hey Agumon, how do you digivolve?"

"We just use the energy that you give us to get stronger!" Agumon answers.

"Heh, right. I forgot about that." Tai examines the digivice again. "Hmm…"

"We always digivolve when you're in danger," Agumon starts. "May be you can digivolve if I'm in danger."

"I don't want to force it," Tai tells him. "Remember what happened last time when I did that?" Images of SkullGreymon flow through their minds.

"You're right, I don't want that to happen again."

"Maybe if we fight a little," Tai suggests.

"Fight?"

"Yeah, it'll get my energy going," Tai hops about. "But you're a little small. Think you can digivolve?"

"Agumon digivolved to… Greymon."

"Er…" Tai nervously looks at his opponent.

"What?"

"I don't think this is going to work."

"Having trouble Tai?" A young man's voice asks through the bushes.

"TK, Kari. What are you doing here?"

"We thought about just hanging out today but we were too curious about what digimon you would turn into," Kari answered.

"Do you need any help?" Patamon wonders.

"I'll take any help I can get," Tai answers.

"Were you thinking of fighting Greymon?" Kari asks.

"Yeah, I thought that if I could get into it, it'll just happen. I mean it worked for the digimon most of the time. But the size…"

"Are you calling me fat?" Greymon questions.

"No, no of course not," Tai nervously responds.

"Hey Patamon, why don't we see if Angemon would be better?"

"Patamon digivolved to… Angemon."

"Well…" Tai looks over Angemon. "It's better, still a little big though. Are you sure about this TK?"

"Why don't you give it a shot?" Angemon dares him.

"Okay…" Tai winds up a punch and hits Angemon in the gut.

Angemon counters with an uppercut, sending Tai flying.

"Oops," Angemon muttered.

Kari tried her best to hold back her laughter but fails. "Hahahaha! An angel saying 'Oops'. Are you… are you okay… keeehahahaha… Tai?"

"I'm fine!" Tai, though winded, managed to answer without getting up.

"You all look like you're having fun," a girl's voice approaches them.

"Mimi," TK greets. "What are those bags for?"

"I just went and did a little shopping before coming here. So what's going on?"

"Tai wants to see if fighting a digimon will help him transform," Gatomon answers. "So far, the digimon in their Champion forms are too big and too strong."

"Too big?"

"Yeah," Tai gets up and walks over. "I really don't want to hurt them while they're Rookies, but their Champions are, well, huge."

"I'm just big boned!" Greymon complains.

"Sorry pal," Tai apologizes. "I don't really know how to fight a dinosaur."

"So you want something small and human shaped?" Mimi ponders. "I've got just the digimon!"

"Togemon digivolved to… Lillymon!"

"Er…" Tai stares nervously at Lillymon's face. "Um… I'm not sure if I can fight…"

"A girl?" Mimi gives him a glare.

"A plant."

"Nice try buster," Mimi replies. "But she's what you're looking for in a training partner right?"

"I guess," Tai scratches his head and glances at Lillymon again.

"What?" Lillymon asks. "Is there something on my face?"

"I'm sorry, I don't think I can get into it," Tai says.

"You're okay with punching an angel but not a plant?" Mimi asks, annoyed.

"Angemon at least looks like a bruiser," Tai starts.

Angemon proudly flexes about, going into various muscleman poses.

"Lillymon looks like she's ready to dance. It feels weird."

"Don't tell me your brother has a thing for plants," TK whispered to Kari.

"He'd rather just clean his balls," Kari replies. "He looooooves them balls."

"I heard that!" Tai yelled at Kari.

"So it's just her looks?" Mimi's eyes perked up. "It's a good thing I came prepared!" Mimi pulls Lillymon away and opens her bags.

"What? Mimi! Hey!" Lillymon tries to struggle against her partner, but Mimi's already started playing doll with her. Clothing material flew and scissors could be heard.

"There we go!" Mimi reveals a new Lillymon. "Introducing, BanchoLillymon!"

"MIMI!" Lillymon screamed and blushed, embarrassed. Her bulb is now black with a drawn on scar, she's wearing a red jacket like a cape, a very short trimmed schoolgirl top exposing her navel, her wings are a neon purple, she wears ripped and torn leather black pants with several belts and zippers revealing more of her legs, her shoes are all black, her arms are wrapped in pink belts leading into black fingerless gloves.

"Wha-what?!" Tai blushes as he looks, Lillymon covers her navel with her arms. "What is this Mimi?"

"If you couldn't fight her because she looked too cute," Mimi starts. "I just had to turn her into something you could fight. So I was thinking gangster."

"Why didn't you tell me about this?" Lillymon asks, panicked.

"Cause I wanted to surprise you too," Mimi puts a finger on her cheek. "You don't like it?"

"You could've at least picked a bigger shirt," Lillymon complains, still covering her navel.

Kari grabs TK's dropped chin, and shuts his mouth while her face displayed annoyance.

"Ow!" TK winched in pain. "Kari?"

"Hmph!" Kari turns away, angered and cross armed.

"You were drooling," Gatomon informs.

"It's a little late to change that," Mimi tells Lillymon. "But since you look the part now, why not acting like it?"

"Acting?" Lillymon stops covering herself.

"You know, to get Tai into the mood."

"Huh? Er… yeah…" Tai turns his blushing head away.

"You might want to hold back," Angemon advises. "A lot. I wasn't even at half strength when I hit him earlier."

"I was ready for that too," Mimi pulls out a green yoyo. "This one has a rubber coating so it shouldn't hurt that much when you get hit by it."

"Great," Tai nervously lets out a sigh. "Thanks."

"Here you go," Mimi gives the yoyo to Lillymon.

Lillymon plays with it a couple times to get a feel. She rips off the string and replaces it with a vine. She plays a couple more times, showing the yoyo flying at various angles and lengths.

"Now it's time to work on your inner gangster. Come on, be mean and screamy."

Lillymon sighed and took a deep breath. "Hey you!"

"Huh?" Tai reeled back in surprise.

"Yeah you! Dumbass! You messing with me? Huh?!" Lillymon puts on the angriest look she can muster.

"Oh she's good," Mimi comments.

Tai gets ready.

"So you want to fight, do you punk?" Lillymon launches the yoyo past Tai, shattering a tree behind him.

Everyone's jaw dropped. Tai slowly, creakily turned around. He sees the tree torn in half from the yoyo's attack. BanchoLillymon pulls the yoyo back and holds it like a whip, with an evil grin on her face.

"Aww hell no!" Tai makes a break for it into the trees.

"Get back here you bastard!" BanchoLillymon gives chase, swinging her yoyo and knocking down trees.

"Lillymon!" Mimi calls out but isn't heard.

"I think she got too into the role," TK mentions.

"We need to stop her!" Kari cries.

XXX

* * *

In the nearby forest, several trees fall down as they are hit by strong impacts.

"Ahahaha!" BanchoLillymon laughs maniacally as she chases Tai around the forest. Toying with him, intentionally missing her devastating attacks but hitting just close enough for Tai to feel the impact shockwaves. "Run little mouse run!"

Tai hides behind a tree, trying to control his breathing. BanchoLillymon's yoyo wraps around him and the tree. Tai struggles to break free, BanchoLillymon's hand smacks the tree near his head.

"Mmm…" the digimon licks her lips. "Getting a closer look, you're quite cute." She caresses his cheek down to his chin. "Tell me, how many flowers have you plucked?"

Tai headbutts her, loosening the yoyo wrapped around him. Tai escapes the area, only to run into BanchoLillymon speed stepping in front of him.

"Where do you think you're going?" The flower mon asks.

Tai instinctively throws a punch. BanchoLillymon catches it easily.

She smiles, "What's the matter? Am I not your type?"

Tai punches with his other hand, Lillymon deflects with her arm, then grabs him by his shirt, lifts him up, then slams him on his back.

"Ack!" Tai grunts in pain.

"You're still conscious after that," BanchoLillymon slams the yoyo into the ground, it pops up and down leaving vines to tie down Tai's arms and legs. She mounts Tai and cuddles on the boy's chest. "Mmm… so that's why, you're as tough as a tree trunk, I can feel the hardwood." She crawls up to Tai's face and leans her face a breath away from his, holding his head to face her. "I want to taste your nectar," Lillymon whispers licking her lips as her face drew in closer, closer, closing her eyes and readying her lips. "Pollinate me," She whispers.

"Tai?" Sora walks in on Tai, flat on his back, mounted by BanchoLillymon.

The flower digimon quickly opened her eyes and stared into Tai's panicked eyes. A quick moment of silence passed between the three of them.

Lillymon's face suddenly blushed redder than a rose as she got up hastily. "UuuuuuUWAAAAAAAAA!"

"That was Lillymon!" Mimi tells everyone.

Mimi, TK and Kari all rushed to the source of the scream. They see Tai tied to the ground with vines and Sora and Biyomon comforting the Bancho dressed Lillymon sulking in front of a nearby tree.

"There, there…" Sora rubs the flower digimon's back.

"It's about time you got here!" Tai yells to the arriving group. "Get me out of these things!"

Gatomon slices up the vines, Tai gets up and quickly uses his sleeve to wipe the pollen off his lips.

"Is she alright?" Mimi asks Sora.

"She's traumatized!" Sora answers. "What did you do to her?"

"I just gave her a makeover to help Tai. I wasn't expecting her to go overboard."

"Uuuuuu…" Lillymon buries her head even deeper into her harms.

"Hey," Tai puts a hand on Lillymon's shoulder. "It's alright, don't worry about it."

Lillymon looks up at Tai, he's holding out his hand. Tai smiles as best he could, she wipes the tears off her face and takes his hand. Tai helps Lillymon up.

"It looks like you're training hard," Gennai appears.

"Gennai!" everyone greeted him.

"I thought I'd come by to see how you're all doing," Gennai notices the carnage they left behind. "And to ask you to try and keep a low profile."

"I'm sorry," Lillymon looks down.

"It's not your fault," Tai comforts her.

TK inspects the yoyo, "Mimi, are you sure that this is just a regular yoyo?"

"Yeah," Mimi answers. "Here, I still have the receipt."

"May I see?" Gennai takes the yoyo and inspects it. "This isn't regular yoyo string. These are your vines, right?"

"Yes," Lillymon nods.

"Then you've infused this item with your power, this is now a part of you." Gennai hands the yoyo to Lillymon.

"A part of me?" Lillymon takes the yoyo back.

"Just like those clothes you wear."

"Wait! You mean I'm going to be stuck looking like this?!" Lillymon panics.

"I don't mind," Tai and TK spoke in unison. They were also slapped in the back of the head in unison by Sora and Kari.

"No, it's more like a side evolution. If you want to turn back, try thinking about how you looked before."

Lillymon closed her eyes, her body starts glowing. When the glow disperses, she returned to normal. Lillymon inspects herself, and smiles happily.

"I'm back to normal! YEES!" Lillymon flies around energetically. The others can't help but smile and giggle.

"She doesn't lose the other form, does she?" Tai asks.

"She can change between her two forms at will," Gennai answers. "Similar to Imperialdramon."

"Cool!" Mimi screeches overjoyed.

"Hey Sora," Tai addresses the former soccer girl. "Weren't you with Matt?"

"We found a very faint trail where we fought Apollomon and the others," Sora answers. "We followed it all the way to a monitor into the real world."

"The real world?" Tai repeats.

"Yeah, it also means that she could be anywhere. We already told Izzy about it, he'll try to figure something out tomorrow. Matt went home, I came to see how you were doing."

Tai looks at all the destruction he and BanchoLillymon left behind. "I was doing fine."

"You could've fooled me," Sora gave him a glare. She wipes more pollen off of Tai's face. "Stop smiling so much. Jerk."

"What?"

"Do you want to keep going?" Lillymon asks Tai.

"No, I'm kind of beat now after all that running around."

"What about tomorrow?"

"I have soccer practice, some other day."

"Okay, I'll see you then! Let's go Mimi." Lillymon grabs Mimi's hand and pulls her away.

"What? Hey! Lillymon! Stop dragging me around!" Mimi complains. "Why are you so pushy all of a sudden?"

"She recovered quickly," TK comments.

"We should get home too," Kari mentions.

"Yeah, we'll see you all tomorrow," Tai tells the group. "Later."

"Tai, wait," Gennai stops him. "Here, I brought this in case you were tired." Gennai tosses a water bottle to Tai. "Don't dry up now, okay?"

"Um… Thanks."

 **XXX**

* * *

 **Author:** In case you were wondering, BanchoLillymon is a real digimon. I was collecting medals in Cyber Sleuth when hers popped up and she became an instant favorite. I have every intention of bringing her back into the fic, but the focus for now is on the other Sora, and if you (somehow) still haven't figured it out, there was a major hint in this chapter.


	14. Cyber Sleuth

**Author:** Filler chapter, well, mostly filler. As I said before, Cyber Sleuth got me back into Digimon so I wanted to put more Cyber Sleuth in the fic.

 **XXX**

* * *

"Matt!" Sora called walked up to Matt and Gabumon on the corner of a street.

"Hey Sora," Matt greets her. "It looks like they're not here yet."

"Did Izzy really need to hire a detective to help us?" Sora asks.

"He says having an officer will help us to move around," Matt answers. "Especially since there's some people are still weary of digimon."

"I suppose," Sora thinks.

A fancy silver car drives up to them. The driver and passenger doors open, a woman and a young girl climb out of the vehicle. The woman had a half buttoned up shirt with a black jacket wrapped around it, with short short shorts. The girl had red hair with a short ponytail, wearing a yellow and black t-shirt, black skirt and yellow leggings, she seemed familiar to Sora.

"Sora!" Ami greets Sora.

"Ami?!" Sora couldn't believe her eyes as Ami ran up to her. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm her assistant," Ami thumbs to the blond woman. "I knew this was a job for the digidestined. But I didn't think I'd see you again so soon."

"Do you know her Sora?" Biyomon asks.

"We played together once," Sora answers.

"We've gotten a lot better since then," Ami confidently boasts. "Are you up for a rematch?"

"Anytime," Sora happily answers. "But not now."

"Oh, right."

"So you already know each other," the woman smiles. "That saves time on introductions. My name is Kyoko Kuremi, Cyber Sleuth. Izzy already told us about the situation."

"Pleased to meet you," Gabumon greets. "I'm Gabumon, and this is Matt. Matt?"

Matt was just staring.

"Eyes up Matt," Sora tells him, annoyed.

"Huh-what?" Matt suddenly snapped out of his trance.

"Do you have the device?" Kyoko asks.

"The what? Oh." Matt quickly searches his pockets and pulls out the radar and gives it to Kyoko.

Kyoko takes the device and inspects it, she turns it on but no signal could be found. "Hmm…"

"The signal was already weak yesterday in the digital world," Matt explains. "If there's still a signal to follow, we'd have go around the whole city to find out where she came out of."

"That could take hours," Ami comments.

"Not if we can strengthen and extend this radar," Kyoko suggests.

"Can you do that?" Sora asks.

"No, but we know someone that could," Kyoko smiles at Ami.

"Right," Ami nods. "I'll call him to meet us at the office."

"Why don't you come with us?" Kyoko suggests to the digidestined. "It's better than waiting."

"Alright," Matt answers. "We need to resolve this as soon as we can."

"Umm…" Ami nervously gets their attention. "He's starting to fanboy. Are you guys willing to give your autographs?"

XXX

* * *

"So what did you say you were?" Sora asks on the ride to the office. "A Cyber Sleuth?"

"Assistant, actually." Ami corrects. "I'm the doing most of the legwork for the smaller cases we get."

"What kind of job does a Cyber Sleuth do?" Biyomon asks.

"We're actually a small private office," Ami explains. "But we do all sorts of jobs. Like finding missing items, uncovering ghost stories, even resolving some personal issues if we get the job request for it."

"Then why do you call yourselves Cyber Sleuths?" Matt questions bluntly. "None of those things sound very 'cyber' to me."

"Most of the requests we get are from digidestined and digimon," Ami answers.

"What?" the group asked in unison.

"Yeah," Ami continues. "None of the local police are really trained for digimon related cases so they forward them to us."

"But why you guys?" Matt inquires. "What were you doing before the digimon became well known?"

"I… don't know," Ami turns to Kyoko.

"I'm afraid I can't tell you," Kyoko speaks to them in a serious manner. "But I can tell you that I recruited Ami because I saw her potential, both as an investigator and a digidestined."

"You're a digidestined?" Sora asks Ami.

Ami silently pulls out her digivice, shows it off and smiles. "Wait until you see my digimon, he's really cute!"

XXX

* * *

"You guys sure took your time," a young man in a white jacket greeted them outside the office.

"Hey Arata," Ami waved. "Nice of you to come here in such short notice."

"Well I heard that you're working for the original digidestined," Arata responds. "I can't exactly say no. Did you get their autographs yet?"

"Not yet," Ami shakes her head. "I don't know what you want their autographs on."

"Good point," Arata agreed at the realization. "Well, I can figure it out as I work. Do you have the radar?"

"Here," Matt gives it to him.

Arata gives it a onceover. "Looks simple enough, this shouldn't take too long. Can we go in now?"

Kyoko unlocks the door to her office. Everyone entered, greeted by a large, purple and fuzzy digimon.

"You're back!" the digimon jumped at Ami.

"I told you it wouldn't be long," Ami hugged and petted the digimon. "Sora, this is Dorumon."

"Hello!" Dorumon greeted.

"You were right," Sora feels the digimon's fur. "He is cute, and this fur is so smooth, I want to cuddle him."

"Hmm?" Biyomon notices Gabumon sulking in a corner.

"When did you get him?"

"Right when school started," Ami answers. "It was a real surprise too. My parents freaked, but they eventually warmed up to him."

"That's good to hear," Sora smiles.

"Ami," Kyoko calls her. "Upgrading the radar will take some time, why don't you serve them some coffee?"

"Urk!" Arata suddenly twitched.

"Huh?" Matt looks over at him. "Something wrong?"

"Be careful…" Arata warns before starting his work at the big desk in the room.

"What kind of coffee do you guys like?" Ami asks cheerfully.

"What do you have?" Sora asks back.

"Let's see," Ami tries to recall. "There's seaweed, red-bean paste, wasabi, onion, sea urchin, oyster sause and my personal favorite, mayonnaise. Well?"

Gabumon and Biyomon rush out of the office holding their mouths.

"Uh…" Matt and Sora were speechless.

"If you like more than one, we can also mix and match," Ami smiles.

"Can-" Sora nervously starts. "Can we just take regular?"

"Nothing wrong with that," Ami replies. "It took me a while to get used the flavors myself."

Arata and Kyoko worked on the device as Ami and Sora chatted away. Mostly exchanging stories about digimon, cases, friends…

"And we are… finished," Arata announces. "We strengthened the radar's range and detection. We also added a connection port so that we can use an internet map. Now we just need to find out which computers have been accessing the digimon world in the past couple of days."

"That's usually monitored by Izzy and his… office," Matt turns to Sora and shrugged. "I can call him and-"

"No need," Arata interrupts. "I already got the info."

"Huh?" Matt's eyes widened in surprise. "Did you seriously out hack Izzy?"

"Izzy's not going to like this…" Sora muttered worryingly.

"Let's just keep it to ourselves," Matt suggests.

"Let's see…"Arata scans the information. "Of all the portals that were opened… there!"

Matt and Sora rushed behind the desk to look at the monitor.

"That's TK's school," Matt mentions.

"Of course!" Sora had a realization. "She found the computer room where we always did our jumps during the whole dark tower trouble."

"Right," Matt quickly writes something down on a slip note. "Let's go!"

"Wait up Matt!" Sora sees what he wrote and added to it before following.

"You better go too," Kyoko tells Ami. "It's still a job."

"I'm on it," Ami follows. "Let's go Dorumon."

"Yippie!"

Arata quickly looked at the slip note Matt and Sora wrote on. "Thank you, Matt. You're a real help, Sora."

XXX

* * *

"May be we should've asked your boss for a ride," Matt suggested as they rode the bus.

XXX

* * *

"There's the school," Matt takes out the radar. "We're right, she was using the computer room. Look, there's a trail leading out from it."

The group follows the trail out from the school. They walk down the road, through several buildings, towards an apartment complex.

"That looks expensive," Sora examines the complex. "Where does she get the money?"

"We'll find out when we get in there," Ami walks ahead.

XXX

* * *

"This is the room," Matt informs everyone. "So what do we do now?"

"This is a digital lock," Ami observes the door. "And it's connected to a network, probably for surveillance. If there's a computer around here I can… Give me a sec." Ami rushes off with Dorumon.

A couple minutes later the door was unlocked. Matt opened it and entered the room. The room itself wasn't very different from any other.

"I'm back," Ami tells Sora.

"Welcome back, Sora greeted. "Why do you suddenly look so tired? And why does Dorumon look like he's been outside?"

"Smells like he's been in a fight," Gabumon informs.

"A fight?" Matt questions. "Where? How?"

"It'd take too long to explain," Ami tells them. "For now let's just go in and investigate."

The group splits up and looks around.

"Matt," Gabumon calls. "This looks familiar."

Matt walks over to what Gabumon was looking at. A small handheld telescope. "It looks like the same kind of telescope Tai had before."

"Matt," Sora calls from one of the rooms.

Matt walks in seeing Sora ruffling through large box. "What do you have?"

"Our stuff."

Matt leans in closer, he sees Sora's old blue hat, Matt's harmonica, Izzy's backpack, TK's hat, Kari's whistle, Joe's bag and Mimi's hat.

"Unbelievable," Matt scans the items.

"Why would she have these?" Sora asks out loud. "I tossed away this hat a long time ago."

"Probably just replicas," Matt suggests. "For the memories."

"So what now?" Ami asks.

"I think we're done," Matt answers. "We just need to wait for her to come back. I'll let Izzy know to give you your payment."

"Honestly," Ami scratches her cheek. "I kind of want to see this to the end."

"This is personal Ami," Sora informs. "You were a great help, thank you."

"Alright," Ami nods, understanding. "If you need anything else, you know who to call! Let's go Dorumon!" Ami waves good bye and leaves the room.

XXX

* * *

Tai's practice is finishing up, they were all working harder than ever before since the Nationals Finals are upon them. Tai, Marcus, Takato and Takuya all knew that they had to give it more than before. Coach Yamaki even allowed Sayo to join their practice games and exercises. She was able to outpace most of the team but the main four put up an impressive fight, and the others followed suit, eventually.

"Alright, let's wrap it up people," Yamaki calls to them. "That'll be all. The next time we all meet, you better be in your best condition. Which means well rested and completely ready. Break!"

"It's hard to believe you were shot last week," Marcus compliments Tai. "It's like nothing happened to you at all."

"I'm not complaining," Tai responds. "I'm just glad that I get to play at all. Especially on this game."

"Hey, you'll find no argument here man."

"I thought for sure I'd be able to beat Tai in some of the exercises," Takuya moaned.

"I don't think it would count if he's handicapped," Takato notes.

"Even if I was," Tai interrupts. "There's still Marcus."

"And Sayo," Marcus adds.

They all turn to Sayo feeding their digimon some cookies and giving out water.

"Hey Sayo!" Marcus calls. "How about some water this way?!"

"On it!" Sayo responds. She grabs water bottles from a cooler and tosses it to the four boys.

"I'm impressed that she can take care of the digimon so easily," Takuya comments. "Even while she jumped into our training from time to time."

"Did you see all the cookies she's baking for the digimon?" Takato asks.

"Those guys are bottomless pits when it comes to food," Tai answers. "I'm surprised she can keep all of this up."

"May be we shouldn't be bringing all our digimon at once," Takato suggests.

"Aww," Guilmon moaned. "But Takatomon, I really like Sayo's cookies!"

"Same here!" Flamemon agrees.

The Agumons nod happily.

"It's really nothing to worry about Takato," Sayo reassures him. "I enjoy seeing their faces after eating my cookies. But it's hard to make different kinds week after week, pretty soon they might get tired of the same kinds of cookies over and over."

"I don't think the digimon are that picky," Tai tells her. "They can eat just about anything."

"As long as it's delicious," Agumon added.

"You should try experimenting with all sorts of stuff," Marcus suggests. "Like spices or vegetables."

"That sounds like a good idea," Sayo agrees. "Though I feel kind of bad making the digimon be my taste testers for that stuff."

"We don't care as long as it's delicious," Marcus' Agumon tells her.

"I know," Takato starts. "Since this is the last practice before the big game, why don't we go over to my place? I'm sure I can pull out some things for you to eat. Think of it as a sort of get ready party."

"That sounds fun," Takuya replies.

"Yeah, that's a great idea," Marcus joins them. "You in Tai?"

"Actually," Tai starts. "I was thinking of getting some private training with Sayo."

"Huh?" Sayo looks at him surprised. "Well, okay. If that's what you want. You really pushed yourself during practice though, are you sure you'll be able to take some more?"

"I'm sure," Tai answered, with no hesitation. "There's also something I'd like to go over with you too."

"Aw," Agumon whined. "I wanted to go with the others."

"You just wanted to eat the bread," Tai jokes. "Don't worry, you can go with them. I'll let Kari know to pick you up later. You guys can take care of him, right?"

"Sure thing," Marcus reassures him. He makes sure he has Kari's number correctly before taking them all to Takato's bakery shop.

"Let's…" Tai starts. "Take a few minutes to rest up first."

"Agreed."

Tai and Sayo have a drink of water together on the bench.

"You wanted to ask me something, right?" Sayo asks.

"I want to know," Tai begins. Then pauses, hesitant for a moment. "I want to know how you transform into a digimon, Sora."

XXX

* * *

Back at Tai and Kari's home, a mysterious figure picks up a school newspaper with the front page photo of the soccer team winning the semi-finals. The figure takes a good look at the team manager, "Found you."


	15. Dusk

"I want to know how you transform into a digimon, Sora," Tai tells Sayo straight.

Sayo smiled to herself. "Is that the only thing you want to talk about?"

"I have a lot of questions," Tai starts. "But I don't think you're ready to answer them. And I think it's better to wait until you're ready to talk about it in front of everyone."

"Tell me something," Sayo begins. "If I didn't ask Gennai to tell you, would you have found out?"

Tai scratches his head. "When Izzy said that the digimon can use water to heal. The thought had crossed my mind that it was you. Especially since my injuries kept disappearing after drinking any water you gave me. Honestly, I didn't want to believe it so I pushed it back. But when Gennai said your line, it was all too obvious."

"This is you we're talking about," Sayo smiles. "It kind of had to be."

"Hey…" Tai whined, Sayo giggled. "Listen, Sora-"

"Sayo," Sayo interrupts. "It's best that you keep our names separate."

"Alright," Tai takes a breath. "I just want to know, why are you here?"

"I thought you wanted to wait until I was ready to tell the others?"

"Not that," Tai hesitated. "I meant… why did you decide to stay so close to us? If you wanted to hide, there are definitely better ways to do it."

"I… have my reasons," Sayo answers solemnly.

"Then, was there a reason you didn't help us until the last battle?"

"There was," Sayo answers. "But I don't want to talk about it now."

Tai didn't reply, he just stared for a moment, realizing her position. He silently stands up.

"Tai…"

"I'm ready to start," Tai walks to the middle of the field.

Sayo follows.

XXX

* * *

"That was the best bread party ever!" Agumon exclaimed as he, Kari, TK, Patamon and Gatomon walked down the sunset lit street.

"You could've saved some for us," Gatomon groaned.

"Will all those digimon there," Kari starts. "I'm surprised they had any bread left for us to take home."

"Do I have to carry them all though?" TK whines behind the large paper bags of bread.

"You wanted to be a gentleman right?" Kari teased.

The five arrived at Kari's apartment door. Kari opens the door and everyone went in. They see a familiar silhouette looking out the window. He was reading a school paper with the headlines 'Boys Soccer Team Headed for National Finals', with a large picture depicting the entire soccer team, their coach and the manager.

"Tai," Kari greeted her brother. "When did you get back?"

The door closes behind TK, they see Matt leaning on it with a smug look on his face.

"It can't-"

"Don't talk too much," a blade is placed at Kari's throat.

"Kari!" TK cries, he took a step but he hears a gun clicking behind him. Without turning around, he knows that the other Matt is pointing his gun at him.

Kari stood still as she looked to her side. Leopardmon tilted his head towards Tai. Kari turned around, Leopardmon keeps his sword pointed at her.

"Where's your brother?" the other Tai asks.

"I don't know," Kari answers.

"Ngh!"

"Ow!"

TK and Agumon were knocked out by the other Matt.

"TK! Agumon!" Kari cries.

"Call him," the other Tai orders as Matt points his guns at Gatomon and Patamon. "Now."

Kari reaches for her cell phone and dials the numbers. "Tai he-!"

Leopardmon knocks her out, catches the phone and tosses it to the other Tai.

"Kari!" Gatomon and Patamon cried, intending to attack the knight. Leopardmon knocks them both out.

"Hello Tai," the other Tai greets menacingly. "You know who this is… Don't worry, we won't hurt them, yet. You just have to do what I say… What do I want? You know what I want. I'm still waiting for the special Christmas cookies I was promised… Don't be late." The other Tai tossed the phone on the couch. "Let's go."

"You just had to get the fun part," the other Matt complained.

"Special Christmas cookies? Really?" Leopardmon asks in a mocking tone. "What kind of demand is that?"

"He'll understand," the other Tai smirks. "He'll be there. And he won't be alone." He takes another look at the picture of the school soccer team. "I'll be waiting. But first…" Tai walks up to feigning unconsciousness Gatomon, and knocks her out for real.

XXX

* * *

Tai grits his teeth, he radiates a small breeze to rustle the grass. His hair dances a bit. Tai keeps it up for a while until he tires out. Sayo catches his body.

"I think we should stop for today," Sayo tells him, looking at the setting sun. Already the night sky was taking over, with shinning sprinkles scattered about. "The stars are really bright tonight, aren't they?"

"Just like in my dream."

"Dream? What dream?"

"Never mind, it was a really… confusing."

The two of them take a drink of water on the bench.

Tai then glanced at his water bottle. "Hey Sayo?"

"Hmm?"

"About your healing powers…"

"I've never used them in the middle of any games or practices, only after. I think you're able to tell when I've used them or not, right?"

"Just making sure. What about that line you keep saying? Was it just to set up a clue or something if you wanted us to find you?"

"Something like that," Sayo answers happily. "It was hard getting into it at first, but now it's become a habit. At least it worked the way I wanted it to."

They sat around for a few minutes in deep thought.

"I didn't think transforming would be so hard," Tai complains. "Those guys made it look so easy."

"The first time is always the hardest," Sayo reminds him. "Even for our digimon."

"Do you remember the first time you transformed?" Tai asks.

"I do," Sayo answers. "It's not a pleasant memory though."

"Sorry."

"Its fine," Sayo reassures him. "Why are you working so hard to transform anyway? It's not like there's any reason for you to do it."

"I just thought it'd be fun to see what I can change into," Tai answers.

"That's it, for fun?" Sayo repulsively responds.

"Sayo?"

"Sorry," Sayo starts. "It's just that… our reasons to get this ability weren't so… amusing."

Tai didn't respond.

"But," Sayo starts again. "That reason is so you, Tai." She smiles happily at him.

"Sayo."

"Unfortunately, I think it's because of that reason that you can't do it."

"Huh? Why?"

"When we first did it," Sayo looks up at the darkening red sky. "We had a good reason. To fight back and protect what we had left. You… you don't really have a good reason."

"So there's really no way for me to transform?"

"You can still change," Sayo tells him. "It's just going to be a lot harder since it's so peaceful."

"I think it's better that way," Tai sighs. "Still, I would've liked to know what I would change into."

"Honestly, I was curious too," Sayo adds. "How you got your ability and how we got ours are completely different. Hopefully it's not Apollomon."

"Gennai used a part of WarGreymon," Tai explains. "I remember having dreams about becoming WarGreymon back during our first adventure. So in a way, I was hoping for my dreams to come true."

Sayo giggles.

"What?"

"Just when I thought you had actually grown up."

Tai smirks, "I guess it does sound silly." He laughs slightly until his phone rings. "Hello? … Kari! … Who is this? … Where's Kari? … What do you want? … Huh? Special Christmas cookies?" Tai turns to Sayo momentarily, realizing the meaning behind those words. "Wha-Hey! He hung up."

"What was that about?" Sayo asks worryingly.

"It was them," Tai looks at her seriously.

"What? How?"

"I don't know, but Kari was there. I need to go."

"It's a trap, it has to be."

"I know, but I still need to go."

"Without Agumon?"

"I have no choice. With any luck, he'll probably just gloat about how they become more powerful and escaped the Dark Ocean."

"This isn't a joking matter!" Sayo yells at him. "How many times did they hurt you?"

"Sayo-"

"EVERY time!" Sayo interrupts. "You're not going alone, call Matt, call Izzy, call anyone! Just don't go alone."

"They have Kari, I don't know what they'll do to her if I don't go alone. He called to me specifically."

"Wait," Sayo stops him. "What makes you think that? When you looked at me weird, what did he say?"

"The special Christmas cookies line?"

"That's something only we would know about."

"You don't think…"

"Yeah, he knows I wouldn't be too far from you. It's not you he wants, it's me."

An awkward silence floats between the two.

"So, what do we do?" Sayo asks Tai.

"Are you ready to meet him?"

"Ready or not," Sayo begins. "He's after me, I can't hide from him forever. I knew it would come to this sooner or later when I saved you. I had hoped that they would be trapped in the Dark Ocean."

"I think the only thing we can do is meet him together," Tai takes out his phone and shuts it off. "He'll want to meet us alone. I don't want the others involved, not while you're around."

"I can't fight them by myself," Sayo tells him.

"If a fight does break out, the others will notice. Let's go."

"Wait," Sayo pockets a water bottle. "Just in case."

XXX

* * *

Matt's phone rings, he looks at the number. "It's TK. Hey TK."

"Matt, they're back."

"What?!

"The other Tai and Matt, and Leopardmon. They're back."

"Where are you?"

"At Kari's, they ambushed us, knocked us out and left."

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah, we're all fine. But listen, they were after Tai."

"Where'd they go?"

"I don't know, they knocked us out without telling us anything. Hang on… Gatomon says she heard the other Tai talking. Something about 'special Christmas cookies'?"

"Special Christmas cookies?" Matt repeats.

Sora reacts slightly.

"It's probably something that only Tai knows."

"Have you tried calling him?"

"Kari's trying, but he's not picking up."

"The Fuji TV station," Sora tells Matt. "They're meeting at the Fuji TV station."

"Sora? How did-?"

"You had a Christmas concert there, remember?"

"Yeah, but-" Matt remembers that day. "TK, get Davis and Ken, have them meet us in front of the Fuji TV building. Then call Izzy, I'm heading over there."

"One more thing Matt, Tai doesn't have Agumon. Agumon's here with us."

"Okay, thanks. Be careful."

"You too."

"How bad is it?" Sora asks.

"TK and Kari are alright," Matt answers. "I'm worried about Tai. He's going to meet them but he doesn't have Agumon."

"What?"

"We need to go, now."

* * *

 **Author:** Next chapter's going to be a doozy to write since I'm winging it and still haven't gotten the backstories down pat.


	16. Flashpoint

In the dark of night, Matt and Sora ride their champion digimon towards the Fuji TV building. They were going at full speed, rushing to the meeting place their enemy had set up with their friend.

"I see it!" Sora yells to Matt.

"Do you see Tai?"

"I can't find him."

Gunshots ring through the air. Garurumon and Birdramon were hit, knocking their riders off. Matt tumbles onto the road, Sora falls out of the air. A motorcycle jumps into the air and catch the girl, Matt manages to roll onto one knee, the motorcycle drives by him and tosses the girl's body on him. Matt falls back with Sora on top of him. The bike skids to a stop behind him.

"Sora!" Matt tries to wake the girl up.

"You don't know how hard it is to save you guys for the final battle," the rider tells him. "It's very tempting to just kill you right now."

Matt lays Sora down gently. He gets up to see the motorcycle rider clearly. It was the other Matt, smugly sitting on his bike.

"But where's the fun in that?"

"Beel."

"I'm surprised you remembered."

Matt looks around, Gabumon and Biyomon were incapacitated.

"It's just you and me," Beel taunted. "I figure that since our Tai's are having a talk, why don't we?"

"I've nothing to say to you," Matt growls.

"Ohh so hostile," Beel teases. "But if you want to keep the talk short." He takes out his gun and points it at Sora. "I can oblige."

"Alright, alright," Matt begrudgingly agrees. "What do we talk about?"

"I haven't really thought that far ahead," Beel shrugs. "But since she's here, why don't we talk about her."

"Sora? Why?"

"You seem quite intimate," Beel answers in a condescending tone. "How does it feel? Stealing your best friend's childhood friend?"

"What?"

"Don't play dumb. You knew how close Tai and Sora were. But then you saw how Tai was just sidestepping their relationship. So you stepped in and stole Sora away from him. Some friend you are."

"That's not true!"

"You know it's true. The way everyone praises Tai, how your group of friends just seem to follow behind him. You were jealous, you wanted something for yourself. So you took her."

"You're wrong. I didn't steal her from him."

"Then what is it then? Of course you knew that Sora was trying her best to get Tai's attention. But since you started to pay attention to her, she began clinging to you."

"Clinging?"

"Of course! She's been trying to get attention, and you just happen to give it to her. She still has eyes for Tai, but you're the only one giving her what she wants. So she's just using you to feel better about herself. And you like that, don't you? The feeling of being needed by someone that admires Tai."

"I know Sora still has feelings for Tai. But that idiot is too stupid to notice, and Sora was hurting from it. I was only being a friend!"

"A friend, right. That's why you comforted the vulnerable Sora instead of telling Tai about her."

"Tai wouldn't have done anything. He's too wishy-washy when it comes to Sora."

"Did you even really try? Tai may be dense but it's not like he doesn't listen. No, you believed that Tai wouldn't listen, you believed that Tai was a coward."

"Have you seen him? He focuses all his free time on school, soccer and the digimon. He doesn't talk to Sora as often as he once did."

"Now you're just making excuses," Beel smirks. "Tell me, why didn't you talk to him about it?"

"He doesn't want me digging into his personal space. And I trust him to handle his problems on his own."

"Except that this is a problem he can't handle on his own. He doesn't want you, but when it comes to Sora, he needs all the help he can get. And you weren't there for him, you were there for Sora instead. I wonder what's going on in Tai's head whenever he sees you two."

"He never says anything."

"Of course he doesn't, but I know you can see it in his eyes. He's conflicted, unsure. And that makes you happy."

"That's a lie!"

"Do you know what the really sad thing is? All your 'friendship' to her, all the time you spent with her, it's pointless. You're still just seconds, more of a rebound boy. Sora will always choose him over you."

"Sora would never-!"

Beel shot a bullet at his feet. "Do you remember that game we played? Sora never moved to you. She stayed in front of Tai."

"Rrgh…"

"That's right, it hurts doesn't it? That Tai will always be more important than you, and when things go down, he's the one everybody looks to. While you, you're nothing more than an assist, a power up for him. When people see you, they ask, 'Where's Tai?'"

Matt grits his teeth and clenches his fist. Beel just smirks. Matt then takes a deep breath.

"I see what you're doing, you're trying to weaken us. Trying to turn me against Tai again. I've been through this before."

"I'm only telling the truth."

"Not all of it. I did comfort Sora when she was hurting, and I didn't talk to Tai about her because I thought he wouldn't muster up the resolve to really talk to her. But he's still a friend, one that cares for both of us. The looks I see in his eyes aren't him being jealous, its him being relieved that Sora can be happy."

"Do you really think he'll be happy to see Sora with you?"

"I do, and he is. Out of all the things we fight about, Sora isn't one of them."

"Heh, you have no idea how… protective he can be. He really hates to lose things, especially her."

"When it comes to Sora, he'll be fine as long as she's happy."

"Not my Tai. He'll get what he wants, and right now, he wants our Sora back."

"Our Tai would never be so petty. He treats everybody on equal terms."

"That still won't change the fact that Tai is the one everyone looks up to. Even your own little brother looks up to him. While you are just there to be his back up."

"Everyone does look up to Tai, and that includes me."

Matt's face filled with determination as Beel looked amused.

"And here I thought I had you all figured out," Beel smiles. "Looks like I won't be able to break you after all. I'm warning you now, soon we'll find the final root, and there will be a battle to the death with everything on the line."

"I'll be ready."

"You better be. I want to really use the new powers I got."

"New powers? What new powers?"

"Let's keep that a surprise, but I'll be more than glad to tell you how I got them. Remember Daemon?"

"Yeah I heard about him. He's supposed to be trapped in the Dark Ocean."

"He was, he's not there anymore."

"What?"

"When you tossed us in there, Daemon came looking. He had the ability to open a portal out of the Dark Ocean, he just didn't have the power to do it."

"So you gave him the power, and now you're working for him. Is that it?"

"Tch, as if. No, we destroyed him and absorbed his power."

Matt's eyes widened.

"You want proof?" Beel takes his gun and points it to the side, he fires a bullet that split the air open. "That, is to the digital world." He fires a bullet to the other side, tearing the air again. "That is to the world of dreams. And this…" Beel puts the gun over his shoulder and fires behind him. "Is to the Dark Ocean."

Matt inspects the three portals, sure enough they all lead to the worlds he said they would go. Beel swings his free hand and all the portals close.

"Leopardmon thinks that at our current power level, we can only open portals to worlds that this world has been connected to. Which means we can't just jump to any other world so easily yet."

"Why don't you just go back to your own world?"

"Because it doesn't exist anymore."

Matt doesn't know how to respond to that.

"Surprised? Even I wouldn't have believed it if I didn't live through it. Of course we're a little miffed that we lost our world. So we're taking it out on every other."

"That's just childish!"

"Childish? When you realize that no matter how hard you fight, how desperate you try to live, that it's all meaningless because there's another world where the bad things didn't happen, you tend to get a few screws loose too. We all lost our screws, Sora was the only one to find hers again."

"What are you-?"

"Matt!" Davis calls out. He and Ken came running around. With them were all the other digidestined.

"Looks like the entire gang's here."

"Sora!" Mimi and Yolei headed over to where Sora lay. The others gathered up behind Matt.

"Where's Tai?" Davis asks.

"Up ahead," Matt answers.

"See?" Beel interrupts. "Told you so."

"Did something happen?" Davis asks.

"It's not important," Matt answers. "But we need to get to Tai."

"So we just need to get through him?" Davis punches his palm. "That'll be easy!"

"Do you really think you can beat us?" Beel smirks.

"Us?" Ken repeated fearfully.

A loud growling can be heard from the rooftops behind them. They all turned to face the source.

"Armageddomon…" Davis' eyes widened. "He looks bigger, a LOT bigger!"

"How?" Cody asks aloud. "How is he controlling Armageddemon?"

"Just a stray we found," Beel answers. "It followed us home."

XXX

* * *

Tai and Sayo, the other Sora, raced to the field where the other Tai waswaiting.

"I knew you'd come," the other Tai gloated as soon as he sensed their presence. "Sora."

"Tai," Sora gave him a glare.

"Yagami," the other Tai told her. "I've taken a new name since, well, I'm no longer who I used to be."

"I know," Sora replied.

"You've taken up a new name for yourself too. What was it again?"

"Sayo."

"Sayo…" Yagami smirked. "'Born from the night'. How fitting."

"Where's Kari?" Tai asks out loud.

"She's fine, don't worry about her. We left her, her boyfriend and their digimon back at your place. They should be awake by now and calling your friends over."

"Leave them out of this!" Sayo demanded.

"They won't be coming here, Matt… Beel will be there to greet them."

"What?"

"I told him not to kill anyone, and to avoid fighting if he can help it. So we can talk for as long as we want, Sora."

"What do you want with her?" Tai asks.

"I think I should be asking _you_ that question," Yagami taunts. "You know the truth now, so why protect her?"

"She's a friend, that's all the reason I need."

"A 'friend'?" Yagami mocks. "She doesn't even belong here, what makes you think she's your friend."

Tai scratches his head. "That's a question better suited for Matt. But since she came to us, she's been nothing but a friend and a team manager. Always supportive, helping, listening and pushing us to be better."

"Tai…" Sayo expressed relief.

"Heh," Yagami smirks. "So you haven't told him about what you did, did you?"

Tai glanced at Sayo, who glanced back with a pained expression.

"Tell him Sora," Yagami pressured.

"Sayo?" Tai wondered.

"Before I came here" Sayo answers solemnly. "I… killed people, I deleted digimon mercilessly. Entire worlds, destroyed."

"That's right," Yagami cut in. "You were one of us, you were with us when we destroyed those worlds. I don't know what you're doing now, but you can't hide from your sins."

"I wasn't hiding from my past!" Sayo protested.

"You lied and pretended to be someone else," Yagami glared at her. "You didn't tell anyone about who you really are or what you did. To make things even worse the ones you lied to are alternate versions of us!"

"It because that they were us that I had to be someone else!"

"So you admit to hiding from your past."

"I wasn't hiding from that!" Sayo protests.

"Then what were you doing? Hanging out with our alternate selves as a different person, pretending you did nothing wrong, acting all friendly while you kept your sins a secret. You were running from your past!"

"I wasn't running from it! I was trying to go back to it!"

"Back to it?"

"Don't you remember?" Sayo pleaded loudly. "What it was like before we lost our world? Our days with all our friends and family? This is exactly that world!"

"So instead of running from your crimes, you're trying to go back to before you committed them. That's even more pathetic. You're just running in circles. "

"No! I'm telling you I'm not running from anything! I know what I've done, I know I can't atone for the things I did! But I'm tired of it. I don't want to kill anymore. I just want things to go back the way it was before."

"So you thought that you could hide yourself in this world, until we arrived. Why? What made you think that you could just forget everything you did? That you could forget us? Forget me?"

"When I was sucked into that dimensional tear, I thought I'd be separated from everyone forever. But I saw them, the old us, together, happy. Everyone was alive, really alive, it reminded me of better days, when we were happy, truly happy."

"Happy?! Weren't you happy when we-!"

"That was YOU! Not ME! You didn't even realize what I was feeling? You didn't even see how painful it was for me to do the things we did?"

"Then why did you do it?!"

"Because I-!" Sayo hesitated in her words. "Because there was nowhere else for me to be."

"That's right, you don't belong anywhere. Especially not here, where our alternate selves constantly remind you of our world that was, the world that is no more and will never be again. The only place where you belong is with us. Destroying all other wolds that dare to be happy and joyful while ours was torn apart!"

"Listen to yourself! What would Kari think about you now?"

"Don't you DARE bring up Kari! It's your fault she DIED!"

Say winced, unable to say anything.

"That's right, that's where it all started. Kari was the first, and things only got worse from there. Don't you see? You don't belong anywhere anymore. Especially not here, the world of our past."

Sayo clenched her fists. Tears well up in her eyes.

"What do you think, Tai? After knowing everything she's done, everything she's left behind and all the lies and secrets she's kept from you. Can you still call her your 'friend'?

Tai didn't say anything, just kept his eyes focused on Sayo.

"Tai…" Sayo tries to talk to him. "Do you hate me Tai? For what I've done?"

"Your only choice is to come back to us," Yagami interrupted. "You know you won't be forgiven, you can't run or hide from your sins. At least with us, you won't be alone. Now, come back to us." Yagami stretched out his hand.

"I already told you, I don't want to do those things anymore. I won't go back with you."

"You have no choice, now that _he_ knows the truth." Yagami points at Tai.

"Tai…" Sayo looks at Tai, uncertain.

Tai takes a deep breath and stepped forward. "Sorry, but I can't let the team manager quit before the big game."

"Tai!" Sayo smiles.

"Are you stupid?" Yagami asks. "You're still going to protect her, after everything I've told you?"

"Yes," Tai nods. "It's because you're the one that told me."

Yagami flinched.

"Whether or not she'll be forgiven, I'll let the others decide, but I won't be the only judge or jury of where she belongs."

"She doesn't belong anywhere, haven't you been listening?"

"I have been listening, to her." Tai gives Sayo a comforting look. "You weren't hearing her at all!"

"You haven't seen what she's done!"

"I've seen her help us, strengthen us, save us! If that isn't a friend-"

"She's NOT a friend of yours! She's a liar, a deceiver, a murderer! Why can't you see that?"

"Why can't you see that she doesn't want to be those things anymore?"

"Because now she can never be anything but those things. There's no hope, no redemption for us. We can't go back the way things were, we've seen… we've done too much. That's why we will destroy everything."

"You're just running away."

"What?"

"No hope? No redemption? Did you even try? Or are you just so angry at yourself that you don't believe you deserve any of it? That none of you deserve any of it?"

"Angry at myself? I'm not angry at myself! I'm angry at everything else! We fought with everything we had to protect our world! We lost so many friends and family during the battle! By the time we won, we had already lost everything. Our world was too damaged to salvage, our digital world tore itself and our real world apart, creaking cracks between dimensions that only we could survive. And we did. When we woke up in another world, we realized that everything we did, everything we fought for, everything we lost, it was all meaningless. So we set out to do the only thing that matters in ANY world, the end of it."

"I was wrong, you're not running, you're completely crazy."

"At least I'm honest, right Sora?"

Sayo couldn't think of a word to say.

"Tell me, Tai," Yagami spoke with a condescending tone. "What makes you think they'll accept our Sora?"

"They won't," Tai answers without hesitation, Sayo looked at him worryingly. "They'll accept Sayo, our friend."

"Why you-!" Tai's fists ignite in black flame. Sayo and Tai brace themselves.

"Stop!" A voice yells from the air, Leopardmon drops down between the three. "Tai, err, Yagami. Sora has made her choice. She won't be coming back to us."

"What do you think you're doing Leopardmon?" Yagami asks growling.

"You brought me to make sure that we only talk tonight, there's only one root left, save your fight for that."

"Tch, fine."

"As for you," Leopardmon points his blade at Sora. "I have a few words for you myself, we'll talk later. Just know that from here on out, you're not one of us, and we won't hold back."

"I was ready for that when I rescued Tai," Sayo replies. "I didn't want to fight you, but I didn't want to lose this world either."

"Enjoy it while it lasts," Yagami begrudgingly tells her. "It'll be gone soon enough. Assuming you live long enough to see it. Leopardmon!"

Yagami raises his hand, Leopardmon flies, grabs his arm and goes away.

"I'm sorry Tai," Sayo solemnly starts. "I won't ask for forgiveness, I know I don't deserve it."

"Even so, I'll take your side over his."

"Thank you Tai," Sayo sincerely bares her feelings.

"I almost fell for it," Tai tells her. "But then I saw him make you cry, that's the last thing I'd want to do to Sora."

"Sora…" Sayo repeated. "Tell me Tai, do your really believe that the others will accept me?"

"That depends, who are you? Are you their Sora, or our Sayo?"

"Those are just names Tai," Sayo tells him. "But I want to be here, with everyone. I want to be happy again."

"Aren't you?"

"No, not really. I smile, I laugh, but I'm not happy. Because I wasn't being me. I don't want to be someone else anymore, I want to be happy being myself again. Tai, please, will you help me?"

"Yeah," Tai nods, smiling.

A loud roar tears through the air. Tai and Sayo turn around to see a gigantic creature leap over them into the river. They shield their faces from the large splash of water. The creature raises its head towards them, gathering energy in its mouth.

"Destiny Destroyer!"

* * *

 **Author:** Whoo... this was a doozy to come up with, even more so to write. Figuring out the right reasons for Yagami and Beel to become as they are, as well as adding more to Sayo's own story, that was something. Now it's time for some action.


	17. Blackest Night

"Rrgh," Davis growls. "How long has it been?"

"Too long," Matt answers as everyone keeps an eye on Beel and Armageddemon.

"I'll say," Beel adds. "As fun as it is seeing your face in agony, it's getting kind of boring now."

"You don't have to wait long," Yagami lands next to him as Leopardmon hovers down.

"It's about time," Beel scolds him. "Since it's just you two, I'm guessing things didn't go well? I told you you should've brought me along instead."

"You'd only make things worse, but it'll all be over soon."

"What have you done with Tai?" Matt demands.

"Nothing," Yagami answers. "I'll be waiting for him, for everyone, at the final root. You just need live long enough to make it. Armageddemon!"

The beast jumps from the rooftops and lands, heavily, next to them.

Yagami throws out an article of clothing towards its face. "Destroy."

The beast roars out loud. It stampeded through the ground and jumped onto the river.

Yagami smiles at the digidestined. "Good luck."

Leopardmon slashes the air, creating a rift for the three of them to disappear into. The digidestined sees a massive explosion in front of Armageddemon.

"Tai!" the group cries out.

"Gabumon!" Matt calls to his partner.

"You guys too!" Davis cries to Veemon and Wormon.

XXX

* * *

"Ugh…" Tai twitched. "Ngh…" He feels his body aching from… something. He opens his eyes, his vision blurred, seeing nothing but darkness and dust clouds save for a bright purple collection of specs. Loud thumps can be heard, felt, coming closer. His eyes adjust quickly, the purple specs begin to form a shape, that of a person. "Sayo!"

Tai rushed over to her body, at the edge of a blast zone. There were pieces of dissolving white armor scattered about all around them. But the loud thumping came closer.

"Sayo wake up!" Tai shakes the girl's body. "Sayo!"

Another powerful stomp, the clouds clear a bit to reveal Armageddemon's face. Tai turns to see more energy being gathered at its mouth. Tai doesn't move, he knows that there is nowhere he can run to. He tightens his grip on Sayo's body, embracing her tightly.

"I'm sorry."

"Positron Laser!" Imperialdramon and MetalGarurumon tackle the large monster's face with all their might. Imperialdramon's cannon provided the extra energy needed to twist Armageddemon's aim away from Tai.

"Imperialdramon, MetalGarurumon!" Tai calls their names.

"Taaaiii!"

The boy hears his friends coming for him. "Everyone…"

"Tai! I'm here!" Agumon calls out.

"Let's do this Tai!" Matt and Tai make eye contact, they nod together.

Agumon jumps into the air. His body glows orange through his evolutions until he reaches WarGreymon. MetalGarurumon flies towards him, his body glowing blue. The two digimon crash into each other, their orange and blue bits of data scattered shortly then spun around to form Omnimon. The knight quickly jumped into battle against Armageddemon and together with Imperialdramon they push it back away from the digidestined.

"Tai!" the group hurries over to where he is.

Sora recognizes the one in his arms. "Sayo?" Sora kneels next to the unconscious girl.

"Sayo?" Mimi repeats. "What's she-" A nearby explosion cuts her short.

"Not good," Matt looks over to the battle, Armageddemon has just launched a barrage of missiles from his back, towards them. "Everyone! Get your digimon to the Ultimate level and stop that attack!"

Everyone and their partner digimon did just that, Yolei and Cody had to settle for Champion level, but they all worked together.

"Keep your digimon back," Matt tells them. "They won't be able to do anything against Armageddemon."

To prove it, Armageddemon flicks Imperialdramon away with its tail and pins Omnimon under its foot in the river. The digidestined could see it charging up its most devastating attack.

"Everyone!" Angemwomon calls out. "Give me your power! Holy Sky!" She raises her hands straight up, a circular collection of holy energy flies up from her arms into the air above her.

Everyone else's digimon except for MagnaAngemon shot their attacks at the ring of energy. MagnaAngemon extends his sword out, Angewomon sends the gathered energy onto his blade.

"Gate of Destiny!"

"Destiny Destroyer!"

The gate opens, ready to absorb anything that comes its way, except for Armageddemon's attack. The massive energy sphere clogged at the gate, cracking it on impact alone. Angewomon and MagnaAngemon sent their energies to keep the gate together as it takes in the massive energy ball. The attack explodes, knocking the angels down to their base forms. Tai covers Sayo from the flying dust.

"Gatomon!"

"Patamon!"

Kari and TK rush forward to catch their fainted digimon. Omnimon blasts Armageddemon's jaw from underwater. Imperialdramon flies in to assist in knocking the great beast off balance. It launches another barrage of missiles aimed for the digidestined. The remaining digimon jump in to attack them, a few managed to fly past their attacks and land around the group.

"Armageddemon just keeps coming after us," Davis yells out.

"Not us," Matt replies. "Tai."

"What?" Tai looks up at Matt.

"Yagami sent Armageddemon after you," Matt tosses a piece of clothing on the ground in front of Tai. It was one Tai's shirts. "It has your scent."

Tai realizes what Matt was truly telling him. As long as he's there, he's putting everyone in danger.

"We'll fight him off as best as we can," Matt begins. "But our digimon can only last so long."

Tai glances at everyone, then down at Sayo. He picks up one of her hands, closes his eyes and presses it onto his forehead for a moment.

"Tai…" Sora calls to him, worried.

He stands up, looking at Matt in the eye. "Take care of her."

"I will. Good luck."

Tai runs off as fast as he can. A pair of arms grabs him from behind and lifts him up.

"What the-?" Tai realizes the leafy sleeves. "Lillymon?"

"Hang on tight!" Lillymon tightens her grip and flies faster.

"What are you doing?"

"I can fly faster than you can run, and it's better if you have someone to protect you while they try to figure out how to beat him." Lillymon follows the road alongside the water.

"If Armageddemon hits you-"

"I'll be fine, I want to do this. Incoming!" Lillymon flies low and drops Tai on the ground, she then faces the incoming barrage of missiles. "Flower Cannon!" The skies are riddled with explosions, a few missiles fly past her and hits the area around Tai. She quickly goes and grabs Tai again. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, thanks." Tai watches as Omnimon and Imperialdramon struggle against Armageddemon. "Omnimon and Imperialdramon are stronger than before, but even now they can barely fight against Armageddemon."

"Can they just fuse like before?"

"Too risky," Tai answers. "Doing that leaves them both wide open to attack."

"But he's focused on you."

"Look, every time he knocks them away he's keeping them separate. He's… aware."

"You should tell Matt."

"Matt's cautious, he'll notice. But we still need to find a way to beat him. Uh oh!"

Lillymon turns to see Armageddemon charging up his most devastating attack.

"There's too many buildings here!" Tai exclaims. "We can't let it fly past us!"

"Then we go up!" Lillymon climbs rapidly into the air.

"There's no escape up there!"

"I have an idea! Do you trust me?!"

"What?"

"Do you trust me?"

Tai hesitated for a moment. "Y-Ye-AAAAAAAAA-!"

Lillymon grabbed one of Tai's arms, spins around rapidly and tosses him sky high. Lillymon dives down a bit to avoid Armageddemon's gigantic energy ball. She flies towards the now falling Tai.

"Look out!" Tai yells, pointing at a horde of missiles headed their way.

"Flower Cannon!" Lillymon attacks as many as she could. A few passes through but one is on a direct collision course with Tai! "NO!" Lillymon flies in front of the missile. The explosion knocks her unconscious and into Tai. Both her and Tai freefall towards the ground.

"Lillymon!" Tai tries to wake her up without any success. He sees the ground quickly rising up to them and braces for the worst.

"Got you!" A green armored digimon catches Tai and Lillymon.

"What the-?"

"Good job Rapidmon!" a boy's voice calls from below as the digimon lowers to the ground.

"Don't celebrate just yet," a girl's voice keeps them in line. "Taomon!"

"You too WarGrowlmon!" the third voice was familiar to Tai.

Tai peeked over to see Takato with a boy and a girl as a robed digimon and a large cyborg digimon attacks the incoming missiles.

"Takato!" Tai steps onto the ground, carrying Lillymon on his arms. He gently lays her down next to a building as his teammate rushes over. "What are you doing here?"

"We saw the trouble, we wanted to help."

The skies are filled with explosions once again.

"They just keep coming!" Rapidmon complains as he shoots down several of the missiles. "We need to attack the source!"

"What level are your digimon?" Tai asks.

"They're Ultimates," Takato answers.

"Then they can't do anything to Armageddemon himself, I'm sorry."

"But if we combine all of our attacks, they should be able to do something!" Takato suggests.

"That's going to take an army," Tai replies.

"Marcus and Takuya are already on their way, and they're bringing their friends too."

"They can reach the Ultimate level too?"

"Yeah," Takato earnestly answers. "Just wait and see what we can do together!"

"Here comes a big one!" Rapidmon warns.

"Oh no…" Tai looks over to see Armageddemon charging up its attack again.

The great beast was hit by a combined assault of Omnimon and several ultimate level digimon, RizeGreymon, Lilamon, MachGaogamon and Crowmon. It was enough to throw off its aim, hitting the building above Tai. Large debris fall down on them. Tai shoves Takato away and embraces Lillymon.

"Atomic Blaster!" WarGrowlmon destroys most of the debris, only a few land around Tai.

"That was close!" Takato exclaims.

"I can't stay here," Tai tells Takato, he stands up. "Armagedeemon is aiming for me. Takato, please take care of her." He starts running.

"Where are you going?!"

"Away!" Tai replies. (I can't get anyone else hurt because of me.)

"Guys!" Takato calls to his friends and digimon. "Cover him!"

Tai runs down the road as explosions surround him. He pushes through everything, debris, heat, dust. Thinking only of protecting everyone. Breathing in all of the dirt causes him to cough.

" _Catch!" Sayo tosses the water bottle to Tai. "Don't dry up now, okay?"_

"Heh," Tai smirks to himself. A blast knocks him down, but he gets back up, only to feel pain on his leg. (Argh! I can't-)

" _Hmph," Sayo gives Tai an annoyed look. "You just earned yourself some private practice."_

Tai grits his teeth and powers through. A bright light catches his attention, it was another Destiny Destroyer. Armageddemon launches its attack without interference. Imperialdramon, Aldamon, BeoWolfmon, MetalKabuterimon, Zephyrmon and Korikarumon all attack the energy sphere, causing it to explode long before it reaches Tai.

"They actually-" Tai was wide eyed in surprise.

" _Alright, how about this?" Sayo steps out wearing a flashy, tight night party outfit._

 _Tai did a spit take when he saw her._

" _That was so worth it just for that reaction," Sayo jokes._

"Tai!" Takuya calls him. "You're limping, are you alright?"

 _Sayo slid closer. "I won't ask what happened, but you can't let it get to you. You'll worry everyone. Your family, your friends, the digimon, your team, me."_

"I'll be fine," Tai replies. "I just... need to walk it off."

" _It's not gone yet," Sayo pushes another bottle of water onto him. "You're still sweating like a pig. Don't dry up now, okay?"_

"Takato told me," Takuya explains. "That big thing's after you, right? Is there anything we can do?"

"Just make sure that it doesn't cause too much damage, make especially sure that it doesn't hurt anyone."

"Are you sure you don't need any help?"

" _You said you relied on the others, you believed in them to do their things, as a leader would. But did you believe in yourself?"_

"You have something more important to do, don't worry, I can handle this."

"Good luck," Takato nods. "Come on guys! Let's take care of that monster!"

Tai presses onward, he sees that Armageddemon is getting more and more affected by the large amounts of Ultimate level digimon constantly attacking it. Omnimon and Imperialdramon lead the offense. Slowly but surely, they are wearing Armageddemon down. Even the beast realizes the odds and has begun confronting the attackers directly.

"They're doing it," Tai stops to smile. "Then-"

"Full Scale Attack!" Armageddemon unleashes a huge swarm of missiles into the air. There was no target, the missiles spread in every imaginable direction.

All the digimon split their attacks to stop the missiles. Tai grits his teeth and shields his face as a couple of missiles head his way. One explodes at a street behind him, blowing cars around him. The other hits a building, sending debris down on the road. Tai looks up at the battlefield again. Armageddemon was looking right him, charging his attack while the digimon were busy stopping the remaining missiles to disrupt him.

Tai could only glare, the cars and the debris boxing him in.

" _I smile, I laugh, but I'm not happy. Because I wasn't being me. I don't want to be someone else anymore, I want to be happy being myself again. Tai, please, will you help me?"_

(Not here. Not until Sayo is safe and I've kept my word.)

"Destiny Destroyer!"

"I won't leave her alone!" Tai's digivice glows brightly.

Armageddemon's attack causes a massive explosion where Tai stood.

XXX

* * *

 **Author:** Armageddemon's stronger than ever and it's taking the best that the Digidestined have including Tai's soccer teammates and their friends just to keep it at bay. Just what will it take to stop it?


	18. Brightest Day

"Take care of her," Tai tells Matt, talking about the unconscious Sayo.

"I will. Good luck." Matt replies.

"H-huh? Lillymon!" Mimi cries out to her digimon. "What is with her?"

They all watch as Lillymon protects Tai from incoming missiles.

"Izzy," Matt turns to the expert of the group. "What can you tell me about Armageddemon?"

Izzy gets down and opens his laptop. "Armageddemon, named after the ultimate battle at the end of the world, this Ultra level digimon- wait. Ultra?!"

"Ultra level?" Davis repeats. "As in, higher than a Mega?!"

"Yes," Izzy answers. "It appears as though Armageddemon has been re-categorized into a level that's much more powerful than Mega. Its Full Scale Attack unleashes a horde of missiles to rain down destruction over a wide area or overwhelming a single foe. And its Destiny Destroyer is a massive energy attack that instantly annihilates anything it hits. Not to mention, this Armageddemon is larger and more powerful than the one we battled before."

"Do we have any options?" Matt asks.

"Omnimon and Imperialdramon Paladin Mode are also Ultra level," Izzy tells him.

"But Omnimon isn't strong enough to beat Armageddemon," Cody informs.

"Then we'll just use Imperialdramon Paladin Mode!" Davis suggests.

"Too risky," Matt tells him. "Doing that will give Armageddemon more chances to attack Tai, we need to keep him occupied."

"I don't think they can really do anything just the way they are, look!" Yolei pointed to Armageddemon wrapping its tail around Omnimon while Imperialdramon avoids missile fire.

The great beast charges its energy blast while eyeing Tai and Lillymon. The group watches as Lillymon throws Tai sky high and avoids the devastating blast. Armageddemon unloads another swarm of missiles towards Tai, Lillymon defends him as best as she could, she was forced to take a hit that knocked her out.

"Lillymon!" Mimi cries out.

A green armored digimon grabs the two of them and floats down to the ground. Two more digimon appeared to shoot down the missiles headed their way.

"The new digidestined!" Izzy informs everyone.

"What are they doing?!" Yolei asks out loud. "Don't they know how dangerous this is?"

"They saved Tai though," Joe tells her.

"They shouldn't be here," Cody argues. "Armageddemon is-"

"Too strong," Matt interrupts. "We'll need all the help we can get."

"Destiny Destr-!" Armageddemon is hit in the head by Omnimon and several ultimates. The attack misses its target.

"Matt!" Marcus comes running towards the digidestined group.

"Marcus!"

"We saw the trouble and came to help, what's going on?" Marcus takes a look around. "Sayo? What's she doing here?"

"It's… complicated," Matt tells him. "For now you and your friends should focus on keeping Armageddemon busy while protecting the city."

"Please tell me you've worked up a plan."

"We're trying, but he's just too powerful to fight head on."

The digidestined could only watch as the battle raged on. Armageddemon is beginning to fight back harder against the constant attacks from the ultimates while battling Omnimon and Imperialdramon.

"Ugh…" Sayo's eye's twitched.

"She's waking up," Joe informs.

"Wh-what?" Sayo's vision was still blurry.

"Don't move," Joe tells her. "You just got hit by a digimon."

"Water…"

"Water?" Sora repeats.

"I didn't bring any," Joe replies.

"Pocket… water…"

Sora reaches into Sayo's pockets. She grabs the water bottle and helps Sayo drink it.

"Oh no!" Mimi yells out. "Tai!"

"What?!" Sora looks up to see Tai trapped, with Armageddemon ready to attack again.

"TAAAIII!" Sora calls out.

"Destiny Destroyer!" Armageddemon fires his most devastating attack at Tai, creating a massive explosion where the boy stood.

The digidestined were speechless. The explosion lingered, as if time had slowed down greatly. They can only watch as the light started spiralling.

"What?" Matt looked on, he had to shield his eyes from a powerful gust of wind coming from the twirling energy.

"He did it," Sora hears a voice say.

Sayo gets up as if she had just woken from a restful sleep. She tosses the water bottle to Kari. "Here, give this to Gatomon and Patamon."

"Sayo?"

"You shouldn't be moving!" Joe tries to tell her.

"I'm fine," Sayo tells him. "And so is Tai." She looks at the spiralling energies as they form a pillar of light. The light suddenly disperses, at the center where Tai once stood is now a digimon greatly resembling WarGreymon, but bigger, more armored and carrying a large sword.

"W-what is that?" Matt asks with his jaw dropped.

"Is that Tai?" Marcus questions.

Izzy quickly goes through his digimon database. "VictroyGreymon, a Mega level digimon wielding the almighty Dramon Breaker, this powerhouse digimon is a force to be reckoned with."

"Victory…" Mimi repeats.

"Greymon…" Sora completes.

"He… transformed?" TK asks.

"But how…?" Kari wonders.

"He found a good reason," Sayo smiles. She opens up the case hanging on her neck and pulls out the digivice.

"A digivice?" Marcus alerts the others. "You're a digidestined too Sayo?"

"No," Sayo smiles back. "I'm not destined to be anything." She places her hand on the screen of her digivice. "Spirit evolution!" She pulls out a digital stream that encircles around her hand. She raises her hand up, then presses it on her chest. The digital stream expands to encircle her completely. Her form glows as pieces of armor materializes and attach themselves to her. She sticks out a palm, calling energy to form her double bladed polearm. "Dianamon!"

"Did-did Sayo just-!" Marcus was too stunned for words.

"She did," Matt replies calmly.

"Please!" Sora pleaded. "Protect him!"

"Don't worry," Dianamon tells them. "I'll make sure he'll come back to you guys." Dianamon hovers above the ground, then jets forward over the water making waves as she goes.

XXX

* * *

"What-?" Tai can feel that his body changed. He looks at his arm, a massive armored claw and his other hand held a gigantic sword. "This is-" A bright light catches his attention. "Oh… right."

"Positron Laser!"

"Supreme Cannon!"

"Lunar Sickle!"

Two powerful energy beams and a large energy slash attacks Armageddemon's legs on one side. The beast slips up and falls down, sending its attack elsewhere.

"Tai!" A white armored digimon calls to him.

"Sayo? You're alriieee-!" Tai tries to walk but he's unused to his new body. He falls to the ground, dropping his sword.

Dianamon grabs his hand and pulls him upward. "I'll teach you how to walk later, for now just fly, and fast!"

"But how do I-!" VictoryGreymon gets up with Dianamon's help.

"Full Scale Attack!"

Dianamon releases her hand, causing VictoryGreymon to fall again. She holds out her weapon and pulls a magic arrow from her quills. "Artemis Arrow!" The magic arrow split into several flying pieces, they intercept the riskiest targets while the rest miss them completely. "We need to get out of here." She tells him.

"I don't know how to fly."

"For now just think about it, and where you want to go." Sayo looks at all the other digimon assaulting Armageddemon. "And you better do it fast."

"Just think," VictoryGreymon closes his eyes. (Just think. I need to go up, I need to fly, move around)

"At least watch where you're going!" Sayo yells at him.

Tai opens his eyes to see a building in front of him, and he could feel Sayo pulling his legs to try and stop him. As soon as his mind wanted him to stop, he started falling down. Belly flopping the pavement. "Ow."

"I know that this is all too sudden for you," Sayo tells him. "But focus for now and we'll work it out later."

"Right, focus," Tai pushes himself up. "I can… I can do this." He manages to stand on his own. "I think I'm getting it."

Tai couldn't see it because of the armor, but Sayo was smiling. Dianamon hovers up a bit above him.

"I'll try to get Armageddemon's attention, you hurry and figure out how to fly and try to think of a way to defeat him. Learning your attacks can wait."

Dianamon soars into battle with Armageddemon. Everyone else's ultimates continue to bombard the giant beast and shoot down any stray missiles it launches.

"Omnimon!" Dianamon calls. "Together!"

"Transcendant Sword!"

"Lunar Sickle!"

The two digimon cross their attacks, increasing their power tremendously. The attacks hit Armageddemon on the head, actually forcing it back. The beast breaks through the energy slashes and headbutts both attackers.

"Destiny Destroyer!" The beast unleashes attacks Omnimon, whom barely dodged the blast.

The monster whipped the knight into a building with its tail. It then chased after Dianamon, roaring out loud. Sayo flies underneath the great monster. It tries to attack her with its legs, swinging, stomping, even trying to body slam her, but she was able to dodge, block and counter most attacks. She tries using her freezing ice arrows to pin Armageddemon to the river, the monster breaks out effortlessly.

(Well, I got its attention.) Sayo thinks to herself. (Now what was step two?)

"Full Scale Attack!" the beast unloads a full horde, circling around underneath him to attack Dianamon!

The white digimon flies out to avoid the homing missiles. The beast gives chase.

"He's open!" Matt shouts.

"Now!" Takuya yells.

"Together!" Takao screams.

"Let's do it!" Marcus cries.

The ultimates all combine their attacks on one point. Their collected assault actually knocks Armageddemon off its feet.

(The ultimates were actually able to knock him down…) Tai thought to himself.

"Positron Laser!" Imperialdramon does a sweep with his laser, blowing up all of the projectiles aiming for Dianamon.

"Thanks!" Dianamon waves to Imperialdramon.

Armageddemon howls out loud, many people cover their ears.

"Don't let him get up!" Matt orders. "Give it everything you've got!"

Everybody assaults Armageddemon from all sides. Armageddemon roars and tanks all of their attacks, it gets up and unloads another missile assault. The digimon spread to shoot them down as Omnimon, Imperialdramon, and Dianamon fly towards Armageddemon.

"Omnimon!" Dianamon cries out as they bombard the great best with projectiles while avoiding its limbs and blasts.

"Yes?!"

"Your Supreme Cannon! Is it a water or ice type attack?"

"Huh?"

"Is your Supreme Cannon water based?"

"Isn't it just a big laser?" Imperialdramon questions.

"It's still coming out of his MetalGarurumon half! Which is definitely a water/ice attribute digimon." Dianamon explains. "I can power up water type digimon, and water type attacks."

"You mean-" Omnimon looks at his MetalGarurumon arm.

"Yeah, I can make your shots stronger! But I'll need a few seconds!"

"Leave it to me!" Imperialdramon flies up and opens his chest armor. "Giga Crusher!"

The gigantic beam causes Armageddemon to flinch, but it is easily tanked.

"We need to help!" Takato yells.

"Push him back!" Takuya cries.

The ultimates unleash their attacks together once again. VictoryGreymon watches as the combined assault actually push the behemoth back. Dianamon raises her weapon above her head, a lunar glow trickles down onto the river were Omnimon kneels, with his MetalGarurumon arm seemingly drinking from the river.

"Destiny Destroyer!" Armageddemon sends a blast right through Imperialdramon's Giga Crusher.

The dragon digimon just barely dodges the blow, the ultimates stop attacking and back away quickly.

"Over here!" Omnimon taunts.

The beast turns his head to face the knight digimon, charging his cannon.

"SUPREME-!"

"DESTINY-!"

"CANON!" "DESTROYER!"

The two attacks pass by each other, Omnimon's blast hits Armageddemon square on exploding into a huge pillar of water and energy. The Destiny Destroyer hits Omnimon, knocking him onto the land, heavily damaged.

"Did… did we do it?" Cody asks as the water and smoke subside.

Yellow eyes are seen opening from the clouds. With a tremendous howl, Armageddemon blows the smoke away revealing heavily damaged body with bits of data peeling off.

"No way!" Yolei exclaims.

Armageddemon roars once more, this time sending missiles and energy balls every which way.

"It's going crazy!" Mimi yells.

All the digimon stop whatever attacks they can, but the monster is causing too much damage all around the area. Dianamon and Imperialdramon focus on attacking with everything they have, but Armageddemon just thrashes about.

"Not good!" Ken observes. "All our digimon are running low on power. They won't last much longer!"

"Incoming!" Joe screams and points.

Everyone looks at where he's pointing, it was VictoryGreymon flying towards them.

"Tai!" Sora exclaimed.

"Whooaaa!" Tai suddenly starts falling out of the sky. He crash lands near the digidestined.

"Are you alright?!" Sora calls out.

"Yeah," Tai replies as the flat end of his sword conks him in the head. "Ow." He picks up the sword and uses it to help him stand up. "Listen, I've got an idea."

"I hope it's better than your landing," Marcus smirks.

"Gatomon," VictoryGreymon looks at the little cat digimon in his sister's arms. "That power up ability you used on MagnaAngemon, think you can do it again?"

"Thanks to Sayo's water, I'm all refreshed and ready to go."

"Hold on Tai," Matt interrupts. "You just transformed and you can barely control your body, you seriously can't be thinking of powering yourself up like that."

"It's not for me, it's for Omnimon," Tai replies.

"Omnimon? But why?" Davis asks.

"You saw what happened, Dianamon can charge up Omnimon."

"But Omnimon is already very powerful," Gatomon informs. "My Holy Sky can only absorb ultimate level attacks and it would take a lot of powerful ultimates to give Omnimon any kind of power up from me."

"I think we have enough," VictoryGreymon looks over at Marcus.

Marcus' eyes widened, understanding his idea. "I get ya! Our digimon may be ultimates, strong on their own, but put them together-"

"-And you get one powerful team." Tai finishes. "If we can give that kind of power to Omnimon, and have Dianamon power him up like before."

"Then Omnimon will be able to destroy Armageddemon for good!" Matt smiles and nods.

"Think you can handle it?" Kari asks Gatomon.

"I've never done anything like that before…"

"Gatomon…" Kari reassured her partner with her voice.

"I'll do it," Gatomon declared with a determined voice. "It's going to take some time and a lot of energy. Armageddemon isn't just going to leave me alone."

"Don't worry about him Gatomon," Patamon flies in. "I'll protect you!"

"Thank you Patamon, but how are we going to tell them?"

"I'll let my friends know what do to," Marcus smiles.

"Our digimon already know," Matt adds. "I'm sure everyone else will follow."

"Once Sayo sees our game plan in action, she'll want in," Tai tells them.

Gatomon breathes in deep. "I'm ready." She jumps off of Kari's arms. "Gatomon digivolved to… Angewomon!"

Angewomon flies up high into the sky.

"Angemon digivolved to MagnaAngemon!"

Angewomon stretches her arms out, then raises them above her head. "Holy Sky!" Angewomon releases power into the sky, forming a cloud of celestial energy.

Armageddemon and everyone else notices the rainbow sky. The beast charges up an attack from its mouth.

"MagnaAngemon won't be able to withstand that attack!" Ken points out.

Tai suddenly jumps up into the sky to join MagnaAngemon.

"Tai!" Everyone yells.

"Destiny Destroyer!"

"Gate of Destiny!"

"Victory Shield!" Tai pulls his wings from his back and creates a shield with them.

Armageddemon's attack impacts the gate and the shield. Both digimon push back with all they have.

"Now!" Matt orders.

"Let's do it!" Marcus yells.

The core digidestined with Marcus and his friends' digimon all attack the cloud. They all reverted back to their base forms and reunited with their partners.

"What's going on over there?" Takato asks out loud.

"They're giving Angewomon their energy!" Lillymon answers. "I think they want us to do the same! Follow me!"

Lillymon leads Takato's and his friends' digimon into sending their attacks to Angewomon.

"You guys!" Takuya calls to his friends, pointing at the energy cloud. They all understood what to do, their digimon all send their energies at the cloud. All of their digimon reverted back to their base forms.

Tai and MagnaAngemon continue to shield against the massive energy ball, they were being pushed back.

"Positron Laser!"

"Artemis Arrow!"

The two attacks knock Armageddemon's blast away from Tai and MagnaAngemon, exploding harmlessly in the sky.

"Phew," Tai breathed a sigh of relief.

"Tai!" Dianamon flies towards him with Imperialdramon not far behind. "What's the plan?!"

"Whatever it is you did to Omnimon, do it again! I'll keep Armageddemon busy this time!" VictoryGreymon's sword is suddenly covered in fires as he swoops down to face the great beast.

"What? Tai!"

"Hurry Sora!" Angewomon calls to her. "I'm sending all the energy I've gathered to Omnimon now. If you give him the same power up as before, then it should be enough to finish Armageddemon for good!"

"A double power boost! I'm on it! Imperialdramon, help Tai however you can!"

"Leave it to me!"

Dianamon flies down to where Omnimon lay, unmoving. "Lunar Sickle!" She slashes the river, sending a rain of water onto the unconscious digimon. "Hey star player. Nap time's over." Sayo tells the digimon as she raises a glowing hand at it. "It's time for the final play."

"Dramon Breaker!" Tai swings down on Armageddemon's head. A blast of energy erupts from the impact. The beast pushes back the attack, knocks him away and head butts him.

"Full Scale Attack!"

The missiles home in on VictoryGreymon.

"Victory Charge!" Tai's sword splits at the hilt, creating an energy barrier that deflects some of the attack while he dodges others. A glint of light catches his eye, Armageddemon was charging again.

"Positron Laser!" Imperialdramon punches Armageddemon's face at the same time he fires his laser. It was enough to twist the monster's aim towards the sky just as it fired its blast.

Armageddemon retaliates by knocking Imperialdramon away with its head.

"Hey ugly!" Tai flies in, calling the monster. "Over here!"

Armageddemon responds by unloading his projectiles. Tai didn't change course, he kept flying straight on, his body becomes surrounded by whirling flames.

"Dramon Breaker!" VictoryGreymon's flames intensify as he wings his sword against the incoming attack. Every slash is followed by a wave of flames and he is covered in a whirlwind of fire protecting him from all sides. "My turn!" Tai breaks his sword into two and points them at the giant monster. "Trident Gaia!" An enormous wave of energy flew out of the swords into Armageddemon.

The monster lets out a howl, feeling the power of the attack. The monster's body began to distort even more as bits float away and disintegrate.

"Destiny Destroyer!"

Tai stops attacking to fly out of the way. Both he and the monster stared each other down. A glow of light catches both of their attention. It was Omnimon, glowing as he got up from absorbing the water in the river. The light seems to be transforming his body into… something else. There's more gold linings, several pieces of armor are larger, spikier. It aims its GaruruCannon at Armageddemon, the arm glows with energy.

Dianamon hovers down to the ground, her digital form shatters as Sayo lands on her feet. "You only have one opening. Don't miss."

"Supreme Cannon!"

"Destiny Destroyer!"

The two attacks collide, causing an explosion several times larger than anything before. Armageddemon charges forward as fast as it could crawl.

"Full Scale Attack!"

"I don't think so!" Tai and Imperialdramon unleash waves of energy against the attack, surrounding Omnimon in explosions and smoke.

A glow can be seen in Armageddemon's mouth. Omnimon took a step back and brought out his sword, there a glint on the blade that was never seen before. Armageddemon was finished charging his attack as it rushes forward. Omnimon jumped towards the beast's head, bringing his sword up.

"ALL-!"

"Destiny Destroyer!"

"DELETE!"

Omnimon slashes down on the beast's head, its attack was split in two and disintegrated almost instantly after. Omnimon stopped sliding behind the beast, holding his sword behind him. Armageddemon itself began to split down the middle, loads and loads of data flew into the sky as they crumbled into nothing.

"WHOOHOO!" Mimi jumps joyfully. "We did it!"

The other digidestined also celebrated however they can as Omnimon stands up with his cape blowing in the wind. Izzy's computer registers a new digimon, Omnimon X.

Sayo watches VictoryGreymon land in front of her and kneels down.

"So, uh… how do I change back?"

XXX

* * *

 **Author** : I was actually nearly finished with this chapter before I decided to change how they beat Armageddemon. At first it'd be a typical 'Tai's new form manages to kill the big monster', but then I decided to make it a major team effort, and I believe it worked out much better that way.


	19. Rising Sun

**Author:** Been struggling a bit to try and make sense of the alternate universe's past as well as the original character's characterization. I hope it makes sense.

 **XXX**

* * *

"Where do I begin?" Sayo stands before the core digidestined and Gennai, along with the stars of her soccer team Marcus, Takato and Takuya.

"How about someone giving us a rundown of what's been happening?" Marcus suggests.

"Alright," Izzy clears his throat.

"Keep it short Izzy," Matt reminds him.

"I… um… er…" Izzy was at a loss for words.

"It's going to be very hard to believe," Tai starts. "There are evil versions of us from another dimension trying to destroy the digital world. And Sayo is actually Sora from their world."

"Eh?" Takato doesn't know how to respond.

"This sounds very personal," Takuya notes. "So why are you brining us in?"

"You've helped us a lot in the past two incidents," Izzy answers. "You and your friends at least deserve to know what's been happening. And we hope that you'll be able to help us in the future."

"Dude," Marcus catches his own punch. "You don't even need to ask. So, an evil Tai eh?" Marcus smiles.

"I don't know what you're thinking," Tai glares at him. "But I know that you're wrong."

"So what did they tell you guys so far?" Sayo asks.

"Just that something destroyed their world and they started jumping around destroying others," Matt answers. "That's the simplest I can make it."

"Then I have a long story to tell," Sayo sighs. "Let me start by saying that everything between our worlds seems to be the same at least up to the original Armageddemon incident. There's a few things different, such as the core of our digital world was more active in what was happening, it even had a name, Yggdrasil. I think our Izzy likened it to some legendary tree at one point."

"That explains those guys calling the cores 'roots'," Yolei comments.

"Yggdrasil had a group of very powerful digimon guarding it, they called themselves Gaia Origin. The four digimon you see us transform into, come from that group."

"Whoa whoa whoa hold on," Davis interrupts. "If this Iggy something or other had this super powerful group protecting it. How did all the things that happen in our world happen in yours?"

"Gaia Origin is only concerned with the safety of Yggdrasil, it doesn't matter what happens to the world as long as Yggdrasil is untouched. And it was, until something evolved in the digital world. We don't know where it came from or how it was made, but it began eating away at our digital world. We called it the D-Reaper."

"D-Reaper…" Takato mumbled.

"When Izzy scanned it later he said it was like a virus, destroying everything it touches. No, wait. I think what he really said was that anything it eats it turns into energy for itself. When we were alerted to it, it had already grown to the size of a small neighborhood, and it can create these monster-like things to defend itself. We tried to fight it as best as we could, but something about it was just… wrong. It wasn't a digimon or anything like it, it just kept growing. We had thought about evacuating as many digimon as we can into the real world, but somehow it was even able to follow us through the portals."

"Wait, for real?" Davis asks. "You couldn't fight back against it?"

Sayo shook her head. "It wasn't a fight, it wasn't a battle, it was a war. And we were losing very badly. Desperate, Gaia Origin came to us and gave us the ability to turn into copies of themselves. We made a push for the source of the D-Reaper and managed to destroy it. But we had lost, completely.

The D-Reaper had consumed too much of the digital world and the real world that when it was destroyed, everything just fell apart. Those of us remaining saw everything getting destroyed, we tried to keep everything together, but there was just too much damage, we just lost too much, we all knew that it was the end. We don't know what had happened exactly, but as the digital world was breaking apart, a portal opened to another world that sucked us in.

When we work up, we found ourselves in a brand new digital world, thinking that everything was back to normal. After searching around, we quickly found out that it was a completely different world altogether. And somehow seeing the world all bright and happy, right after losing everything against the D-Reaper, it angered them. They… we, lashed out. I can still remember, the screams, the terror on their faces…" Sayo looked down on her hands. "The blood…"

There was a short silence after that.

"When we destroyed that world, tears to another would open and we would start all over. We've done it… at least 4 times."

"Why do you say 'at least'?" Izzy wonders.

"At the 4th world, during a battle with an incredibly powerful digimon, a tear opened up and sucked me in. That was when I found myself in your digital world. I was trying to find my way back to the others when I found Tai with Agumon and… Sora…" Sayo eyed Sora for a moment.

"I followed them back to a picnic where everyone was, alive and happy, together. It was Sora's birthday and you were celebrating. I watched from a distance, it made me remember the happier times before the D-Reaper appeared. It made me want to go back in time. But I stayed hidden, I didn't know what to do or say, and I especially didn't want to know what you would do. Somehow though, Gennai found me."

"Gennai?" Everyone turned to Gennai.

"You knew about this?" Izzy interrogates.

"Only what she was willing to tell me," Gennai answers. "She told me about her world and what happened to it, and that she wants to stay with the digidestined."

"And you just trusted her word?" Cody questions.

"Not at first, I told her that she would need to prove her intentions to me. And she gave me valuable data that helped make the radar and Tai's transformation. As well as information regarding the digital world that even I never knew about. She also pointed us to where the D-Reaper was found in her world, me and my team went there and took care of it before it ever becomes a problem."

"That explains your recent disappearances," Izzy mumbles.

"She earned my trust and we helped her make a new identity for herself in the real world. You would not believe all the paperwork and other legal things we had to work around to make it believable. I'd rather fight Piedmon again than to go through that anymore."

"Just one question," Izzy interrupts. "Where did you get all the money from for all of that? We're government funded, someone should've found something strange in the budget."

"You would not believe how much digimon are willing to pay for human food, and how much people are willing to pay for real digimon merchandise."

Everyone gave him glares ranging from baffled to questioning.

"That's the quickest summary we can give you," Sayo tells them. "I'll willingly give you any details you want to know."

"I think we have the details we need," Izzy answers. "Can you wait in the next room please while we discuss this?"

"Alright," Sayo acknowledged his suggestion.

Sayo starts to leave the room, Tai moves to follow her.

"Where are you going Tai?" Matt asks.

"I think it's better if I'm not here either," Tai answers. "And someone needs to keep an eye on her."

Matt lets out a deep sigh. "Go."

Tai places a hand on his shoulder. "Thanks Matt."

Sayo leaves the room with Tai right behind her. They move to another room down the hall that has nothing but an empty table and some chairs, with large windows showing the sun setting ourside. The two of them sit opposite of each other.

"Are you sure you shouldn't be there?" Sayo asks.

"It's better if I'm not, I want them to decide for themselves without me being there."

"You really have matured Tai," Sayo smiles softly.

"I've had to," Tai replies. "So many things are happening now, I still can't understand it."

"If there's something you need help with-"

"I know. But it's all up to them now."

"You're so sure that they'll accept me," Sayo reminds him. "What if they don't?"

"I promised you that I'll help you be happy being you again, right? Even without their help, I'm going to keep that promise."

"You never made a promise Tai," Sayo corrects him.

"I did now."

A few seconds of silence followed.

"Tai," Sayo suddenly sounded downhearted. "There's something I need to tell you, about Kari."

"Are you sure?"

"I am, and I don't want it to bother you in any way. While we were fighting the D-Reaper, I was in trouble and called for help. Tai, Yagami, got distracted from his own fight. It was only a slight opening but it was enough for one of the D-Reaper's monsters to launch an attack on him. Kari noticed it and pushed him out of the way. She got hit instead, but was still barely alive."

Tai didn't say anything, only listened.

"Yagami was too distraught to keep fighting that battle. Beel ordered a retreat. Kari died later holding Yagami's hand. You can probably imagine what he was going through."

"I don't want to," Tai admitted.

"He became a different person after that, more aggressive, more… less like himself. I felt responsible. I tried to stay with him, but he wouldn't even look at me. Tell me something Tai, would you blame me for Kari's death?"

Tai scratches his head. "To be honest, I wouldn't know what to think. There's still a fight to win, there's still others to protect, I don't want to shove my feelings aside, but there's something more important that needs to be done."

"He didn't shove his feelings aside, not completely," Sayo tells Tai. "He used his feelings to drive himself forward, and to push me away."

"I can't tell you, honestly. I'm… afraid of the answer."

"Tai…"

"This is romantic and all…" a girl's voice distracts them. "But when can I have my turn at talking to Sayo?"

"Mimi," Tai mutters. "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be with the others?"

"Oh those stupid debates were never really my thing, I just told them that I'd vote for you no matter what and left before things got really boring."

"Heh," Tai couldn't help but smirk. "Was there something you wanted to talk about?"

"Actually," Mimi tilted her head with a finger on her chin. "I was hoping to have a private conversation with her. You know, girl talk."

"Oh… um… okay…" Tai was confused on what to do.

"Toodaloo…" Mimi playfully waved.

Tai got up, still unsure of his actions. He looks at the cheerful Mimi and the silent Sayo. "I'll just be down the hall."

"Later!" Mimi waves as Tai closes the door behind him. She turned to Sayo with a serious look. "Wow, he's just as naïve as our Tai used to be."

Sayo's eyes widened, Mimi smiles sinisterly. Sayo stands up quickly and manifests her glaive, pointing its blade at Mimi's neck. Mimi didn't flinch.

"Why are you here?" Sayo asks.

"Just as I said," Mimi pushes aside Sayo's weapon and grabs a chair. "Girl talk."

Sayo pulls her weapon back and goes into a stance.

"Would you put that down?" Mimi suggests. "If I wanted to make trouble, well, we'd be talking on the roof without going up a floor. To be honest though, this place could use something to stand out a little more. A brighter color on the walls for instance, may be some kind of theme instead of the usual blank office walls these secret government buildings seem to go for. Oh I know, decorations! Izzy could cover the walls with digimon paints and art décor, anything but plain old boring business blank walls."

Sayo reluctantly dematerialized her weapon and slowly sat down. She was still cautious of the person across the table.

"You need to relax," Mimi leans forward to a twitchy Sayo. "I know I said that the next time we'd meet we'd be enemies, but I still want to talk before we start trying to kill each other."

"So, what do we talk about?"

"Tai… Yagami told me that the reason you wanted to stay here is because it reminds you of our old world."

"When everyone was together, alive and happy."

"But that's not the only reason, is it?"

"What?"

"It was Tai, wasn't it? Your real reason."

"W-what are you-?"

"I knew it," Mimi smirks. "Tai wasn't the only one that has hard time letting go."

"I-…" Sayo hesitates, she looks down.

"I'm right, aren't I?" Mimi smugly crosses her arms. "I knew you two had trouble before the D-Reaper showed up, but the whole thing with Kari…"

"I don't want to talk about that."

"You seemed pretty comfortable talking to this Tai about it."

"That's because… I wanted to know. How he would feel."

"Well let me tell you something," Mimi leaned in, pointing at Sayo. "I don't know if you could see it in his eyes, but thinking about what happened in our world and how he would have felt… He wouldn't have blamed you."

"What?"

"But you have to realize, there's a difference between Sora… and Sayo. You know that, right?"

Sayo thought about it, Sora was dating Matt when the D-Reaper appeared, her relationship with Tai was… uneasy at best. But Sayo, she may have been a new girl at school, but she quickly pushed herself into Tai's circle of friends, and became one of Tai's closest.

"It changes things, doesn't it?" Mimi asks. "Knowing that he might forgive Sayo, but not Sora."

"What are you saying?"

"That here, in this world, you're not Sora. You can never be Sora because, well, Sora's still here. You, you're someone else completely."

Sayo can't completely deny her words.

"So tell me," Mimi leaned in further. "What was it like? Pretending to be someone else in front of somebody you know?"

"Wh-what?"

"You enjoyed it right? They're treating you like somebody new while you know exactly how to work them up."

"I-I didn't-… I'm not-…"

"Hmm…?" Mimi gives her a mischievous look.

"Well, maybe I did, a little. It was a bit fun to tease them about things they wouldn't know about themselves."

"I bet you used that to pull Tai closer to you, away from Sora. You sneaky devil you."

"What? No! I can't do that! Not to myself!"

"I thought we just made it clear that you and her were completely different people here. So stop being Sora and just be Sayo."

"I just told Tai I don't want to be someone else anymore."

"You can never be Sora again, not here anyway, but you can still be Sayo."

Sayo was too surprised to respond.

Mimi suddenly turned to face the direction of where the digidestined's meeting was, she place her hand around her ear. "It sounds like they're almost done. Heh. Well, that's something."

"Wait, you can hear them? How?"

"The power up we got from absorbing Daemon," Mimi smiles. "It has its perks. Do you want to know what they're saying about you?"

Sayo didn't reply.

"It must be killing you inside, wondering what they think about you. I'll just leave you in suspense for now. But it's time that I got something off my chest."

"What's that?"

"I really hate you."

"Mimi?"

"You disappeared into that tear, and started a new life in our old world. You left me alone with those maniacs, it's not easy to keep them together without you. Ever since you left, everybody just started dying faster, and I was there for all of them. I guess every party needed a healer after all. Heh. If I had come with you, if you had come to find us when we first appeared, I probably would've joined you." Mimi got up from her chair.

"Wait!" Sayo got up after her. "You can still-!" Mimi quickly pulls out her sword and points it at Sayo.

"After absorbing Daemon, I don't know if I can go back anymore," Mimi gives her a sad smile. "I can feel his darkness influencing me, it's taking a lot out of me just to have this conversation peacefully. Besides, unlike you I've actually fought against this world's digidestined. Stay back in our past Sora, protect it, for your own good. There's no future for us anymore, but you… you can still live, really live, and someone has to carry the burden, the memories of our old world, of us. Goodbye."

Mimi slowly dissolves her blade and walks away quietly.

"You're done?" Tai asks Mimi.

"Yup!" Mimi nods and smiles. "I should really thank you."

"For what?"

"Not alerting the others that I was here."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Heh," Mimi smirks. "I'll see you at the final battle. You should probably get Sayo to help you control your digimon form. We won't be holding back, and you shouldn't either. But more importantly, take care of her, I'm still going to kill her, but she's my best friend."

Tai returned to Sayo, who was sitting down with her head on the table. Knowing that it isn't a good time to talk, he waits outside quietly.

XXX

* * *

"Tai," Matt walks up to his friend beside him was Sora.

"So how'd it go?"

"We all decided to trust and believe in her," Sora answers. "There were a few on the fence, but your teammates pulled them through."

"That's good to hear," Tai smiles. "Can I ask, which side did you guys pick?"

"Honestly," Matt starts. "When this thing started, she should have come to us and helped us right from the start. But Sora made a few good points in her defence. Marcus and the rest of your team, despite not knowing everything that's been happening, all believe in her too."

"And," Sora begins. "I don't want to admit it, but she changed you."

"Changed? Me?"

"Before the school year started, you weren't as open about yourself."

"I wasn't?"

"No, and I think we have Sayo to thank for that."

"You do remember that whole deal with me, well, trying to hide my… problems."

"But who was the first one to get you to talk about it? It was Sayo, she's become closer to you than any of us could ever be."

"Sora, that's not-"

"Let me finish," Sora shakes her head. "She's been there for you when we couldn't, she thinks of you constantly. If it's out of guilt for what happened in their world, if she's only doing it to keep you from turning into Yagami, or if she genuinely cares for you, she's still there when we aren't."

"But she's you."

"I know," Sora smiles. "Which is why I know you'll do everything you can to make her happy." Sora wiped her eyes.

"Sora?"

"Listen Tai," Matt interrupts. "Beel told me some things, true things, but I had to look at myself and what my friendships really mean to me, especially with you and Sora."

Tai's eyes widened a moment, he was about to say something but stopped. He knew what they were saying. He smirked a moment. "I see, thanks for telling me."

"Tai…" Sora wasn't expecting his response.

"You're right Sora, I'll be doing whatever I can to make her happy. And, if I wasn't so… unsecure about us, I probably would've made you happy too. But I know Matt, and he'll be there for you just as much as I would've been."

Matt and Tai lock eyes for a moment.

"Take good care of her."

"I will, you should take care of Sayo." Matt takes a peek through a crack in the door. "Did something happen?"

"She… still has a hard time completely leaving her friends behind. If she's going to fight with us, she'll have to-… Well, I can't possibly imagine what she's going through."

"Sayo…" Sora sadly spoke the name.

"Don't worry about her," Tai tells her. "She's strong, probably stronger than any of us. She'll pull through."

"She'll still need you to be there for her," Sora replies.

"I know," Tai answers. "For now, I'm letting her be. This is something she has to figure out on her own."

"No Tai," Sora shakes her head. "This is where you have to step in and help her. She's been alone Tai, away from her world and hiding from us. She has a lot of weight on her shoulders. With everything that's happening now, it must be really hard for her to bear. So go to her Tai. Don't-… don't make the same mistake twice, don't leave her, leave Sora alone."

"Sora," Tai sees the fire in her eyes. "You're right, of course you'd be right. But I think you two should come with me, show her that we really do welcome her here. And… I could use your help."

Matt smirks. "That was the plan."

All three enter the room, Sayo hears them coming and raises her head up to see them. She quickly wipes her eyes and gives them a smile.

"So, how did it go?"

"Good," Matt answers as he and the others sat down. "Very good. We understand that you had reasons for not revealing yourself to us until now, we also weighed in your actions before you came to our world. But the fact is that you saved Tai and helped us fight Armageddemon. You've earned our faith and trust."

"Thank you," Sayo wiped her eyes again.

"Don't thank me just yet," Matt cautioned. "I hope you realize what this means. When we find out where Yagami and his friends are-…"

"You don't need to worry," Sayo puts on a fierce look. "I've made up my mind when I saved Tai. I'm going to protect this world. I've seen what loss does to a person, I've been on both sides of destruction. I remember what our lives were like before the D-Reaper, I realized what happened to me and the others when our world was destroyed. I… want things to go back to the way they were."

"We won't force you to fight them yourself," Sora tells her. "Just know that this is our world, our fight, it doesn't have to be yours."

"No, I'm going to fight against them," Sayo proudly states. "This is now my world too. I'm going to protect it, I'm going to stop them, no matter what you say. And, I want to be with everyone."

There was a moment of silence.

"Heh," Matt smirks. "Tai was right, for once. You are strong."

"What do you mean 'for once'?" Tai questions.

"You were never any good with the girls dude," Matt jokes.

"Oh boy…" Sora face palms.

"Sometimes I want to punch you in your perfect teeth." Tai remarks.

"And they'll still be more perfect than yours," Matt replies.

"Oh brother," Tai rolls his eyes.

Sayo giggles. "You don't know how long I've missed seeing you two like that." Still giggling she starts using her sleeves to wipe her eyes.

"Sayo," Sora moves beside her. "Just let it out. It's okay to cry."

"I'm alright, everything's alright. I don't have to hide anymore. I'm not Sora anymore… I'm…" Sayo couldn't hold back. Her memories of her past, all the death she witnessed of her friends, family, world. All the evils she caused as a world destroyer. Enjoying herself hiding among past versions of her friends, confronting her friends from the old world, being accepted in this world despite her past, despite her inaction and secrets.

Tai suddenly embraces her. "You're Sayo, our friend."

"Tai… Tai!" Sayo buries her head deeper into his shoulder. "Everyone… everybody is… I don't want to be alone again…"

"You'll never be alone anymore. We're here Sayo, I'm here…"

Sayo cried into Tai for a while longer as the sunset light pours into the room. Matt pulls Sora away from the room.


	20. Warm Hearts

"Rragh!" VictoryGreymon swings down his sword on Dianamon.

The white digimon easily sidesteps the downward swing, she uses the momentum to kick the wielder in the face. VictoryGreymon gave chase, swinging his sword around. Dianamon easily evades the wild, random swings. She only uses her twin sided glaive to deflect the heavy sword. She jumps back after a hard swing from VictoryGreymon that left him wide open. She quickly jumped forward and performed a fast slashing combo on the bigger mon's chest. The orange mon managed to block one attack, grabbed the pole, pulled her in and punched her to the ground.

VictoryGreymon releases his sword to follow up. Dianamon rolled as the big mon punched the ground repeatedly. The white digimon manages to roll onto her feet then surprises the orange mon with a quick punch combo to the face, followed by an aerial kick combo to the chest that slides him back. Not letting up, Dianamon charges forward with jumping spin kick, knocking the large digimon onto his rear. As he was getting up, the white digimon races past him to grab her weapon.

Realizing this, VictoryGreymon quickly stands and turns around, Dianamon already is already racing towards him with her weapon in hand. He plunges his hands into the ground and pulls up a wave of dirt and earth into Dianamon. The white digimon jumps back, cutting down the larger pieces while twirling her weapon in front of her to block the smaller ones. When the wave stopped, she saw VictoryGreymon breaking his sword in half.

"Trident Gaia!" he unleashed a powerful energy stream in her direction.

Dianamon flips over while pulling a magic arrow from her quills. "Artemis Arrow!" She shoots several magic arrows at the larger mon.

VictroyGreymon is rained on by magical arrows, forcing him into the defensive, not seeing Dianamon charging full speed.

"Lunar Sickle!" Dianamon swings her weapon as hard as she could.

VictoryGreymon dropped to one knee as Dianamon posed behind him. Orange and white lights engulf the two digimon as they reverted back to their human forms.

"Man," Tai pouts. "I thought I had you."

"My digimon form is just too fast for yours," Sayo smiles as she offers him a hand. "But you're moving a lot better. A bit of advice though, don't just use your sword, fight with it."

"Thanks," Tai takes her hand and is pulled up. "I still can't believe how much getting hit hurts." Tai rotates one of his shoulders. "That was your signature move right? The arrows?"

"It is," Sayo nods. "But I think the scythe is stronger."

"Yeah, I could really feel the difference," Tai placed a hand on his chest. "I think it's time we took a break. I want to see how the others are doing anyway."

A week had passed since Armageddemon's attack. Because of the damage the national finals soccer game was pushed back until further notice. There haven't been any sightings on Beel, Yagami and the other Mimi. Sayo explained that each world was different, and that the way they ended one world was not the same as the way they ended another. In one world, they fought a Yggdrasil itself, in another it was 4 powerful digimon sovereigns.

But locating the roots in this world is similar to how they destroyed one of the previous worlds. Because of their digimon forms' connection to Gaia Origin, their world's core guardians, they are able to sense the world's data flow while in their digimon forms. Any large gathering of data flow leads to a world root, which they would then destroy.

Unfortunately, nobody knows where the last root is or has the faintest idea of where it could be. Izzy provided a hypothesis that the root locations are connected to where dimensional rifts occurred during the original digidestined's adventure. The mountain of File Island where they first arrived in the digital world. The location of Etemon's pyramid where Tai was sucked into a vortex after defeating Etemon. And finally where Myotismon's castle once stood, the place where there was a door to the real world. Izzy had Sayo look into all the probable locations he believed would be where the last root is, but Sayo couldn't feel the same level of data flow as any of the real roots she felt, even Gennai's temporary roots process more data flow than any location Izzy had suggested.

"Lightning Joust!"

"GeoGreySword!"

Tai and Sayo witness the clash of fire and lightning, Gallantmon and ShineGreymon, the Mega level partners of Takato and Marcus. While the search goes on for both the final root and those that would threaten it, the digidestined, old and new, train to become stronger. Much to everyone's surprise, Marcus, Takato, and their friends achieved the Mega level within the week. However Takuya and only one of his friends made the same progress. Cody and Yolei are crying on the inside, stuck with Champions. Matt is working with Omnimon X in order to keep such a powerful form in battle longer.

"Hey!" Marcus greets the two. "Done already?"

"Yeah," Tai nods. "She's something else when she's serious."

"It's just experience," Sayo admits. "My digimon form is a lot faster anyway. Tai won't be catching up to me, he just needs to figure out his own fighting style."

"Hey, how about practicing with one of our digimon instead?" Marcus suggests.

"I think that'd be cool," Takato agrees. "I mean, they're all using swords, may be they can teach you a thing or two."

"I have a lance," Gallantmon comments.

"Sounds like a plan," Tai smiles. "But my sword is much bigger than theirs."

"Over-compensating much?" Marcus smirks.

"Hey!" Tai protests.

"ALL DELETE!"

They all turn to the source of the scream. They see a gigantic slash wave cut into a mountain. The entire mountain then dissolves instantly afterwards.

"Whoa whoa whoa!" Davis cries out crossing his arms. "Time out! Time out!"

"Y-yeah!" Takuya agrees, wide eyed.

Both Imperialdramon and EmperorGreymon's jaws dropped.

"Sorry," Omnimon X apologized. "I just got so into it I couldn't help myself."

"You'll delete our digimon if you're not careful!" Davis yells.

"Calm down Davis," Ken tries to pacify him. "It just means that we were actually giving him a hard time. For two Megas against an Ultra, I'd say that was impressive. But don't worry, our partners are strong enough to resist the All Delete a few time."

"Eh," Takuya shrugs. "I'll take what I can get. You hear that guys?" He yells at Imperialdramon and EmperorGreymon. "You did good!"

"Th-thanks…" the two digimon replies.

"Next time, don't try to go all out," EmperorGreymon whispers.

"Hey, you used your strongest attack first," Imperialdramon counters. "I was hoping to actually knock him down."

"Umm, guys?" Takuya gets their attention. "We can hear you."

"They really are excited aren't they?" Sora smiles as she walks over with a small bag.

"They're more powerful than anything we've ever seen," Matt replies. "Of course they're excited."

Omnimon X degenerated into Agumon and Gabumon.

"Too bad it doesn't last that long," Sora comments.

"It's because he used that 'All Delete' attack," Matt tells her. "That attack uses up a lot of power. Normally he would last a good 20 minutes now. But every time he uses that attack, his time shortens by 2 minutes."

The digidestined all hear two grumbling stomachs. They all turn to Agumon and Gabumon holding their torsos.

"We're hungryyyy…" Agumon moaned.

"Here here," Sora pulled out cookies from her bag and tosses them to the two digimon.

"Mmmm…" the digimon enjoy their treats.

"Hey, save some for us," Imperialdramon and EmperorGreymon both degenerated to their rookie forms.

Sora giggles. "Come on, there's enough for everybody."

"Hey!" Tai waves. "We're taking a break!"

"Be right up!" Matt yells back then smiles at Sora. "Let's go."

The group gathers together at a table, the soccer boys and Matt help themselves to a bunch of food they all brought over. Sora and Sayo feed the digimon.

"Hehehe," Sayo chuckles to herself. "It's fun to see them just gobble everything up. Thanks a lot for your help."

"It was my pleasure," Sora replies. "I missed seeing a large group of digimon just eating. It looks like they really enjoy your new recipes."

"We sure did!" Tai's Agumon responds. "Can't wait to try some more."

"Sounds like you just want everything," Sayo giggles.

"Hey, you remember Ami from the soccer match we had?" Sora asks.

Sayo looked up thoughtfully. "She was the one with the red hair and uses her goggles as a hair tie, right?"

"That's the one. Apparently her boss likes experimenting with flavors too, but with coffee. I'm sure it'll be a real test of anyone's taste."

"And all of a sudden I can't eat anymore," Gabumon mentions and walks away from the group to lie down elsewhere.

"Me too," Biyomon hovers away to perch on a rock.

"What was that about?" Sayo wonders.

"They're just remembering the list of coffee flavors."

"Wait, the digimon don't like-… What kind of-?" Sayo just stared at the smiling Sora with a nervous twitch in her mouth.

"Hey!" Marcus calls out to the two girls. "We need some refreshments over here!"

"Coming right up!" Sayo replies.

"Boys, I swear" Sora puffs and places her hands on her waist. "This isn't soccer practice."

"I don't mind it," Sayo digs through the water bottles. "I like the feeling of being relied on, it helps with making me feel like I have a place here."

"We told you that you shouldn't worry about that anymore."

"I know, I'm not worrying though. I'm just… reminiscing." Sayo tosses the bottles in the boy's direction. She then hands one out to Sora. "Don't dry up now, okay?"

Sora smiles and takes the bottle. "Are you still saying that?"

"It's become a habit for me. Can't help it."

"What about your hair?" Sora wonders. "You dyed it and let it grow so that you can't be recognized as me right? You're still dyeing it?"

"I figure it's better for us like this," Sayo remarks. "Imagine all the trouble we'd have if I went back to my old look."

"Hmm… yeah, I can see where you're coming from."

"The thought had crossed my mind, but not because of the trouble it'd cause _me_." Sayo gives Sora a sinister smirk.

"Something tells me I don't want to know what you were thinking of doing with my face."

"Nothing too major, just messing around with Tai and the others."

"Yeah, that was what I was afraid of," Sora palms her forehead and exhales.

Sayo giggles, "I'm only kidding. Still, it's very weird to be friends with, well, people that are essentially your old friends."

"I can only imagine, especially when you have to pretend to be someone else."

"That's why I wanted to stay away from everyone as much as possible."

"But you volunteered to be Tai's manager, didn't you?"

"I did, but that was for a different reason." Sayo took a quick drink from her bottle. "I didn't want this Tai to become like my Tai. So I kept close to him."

"Why do you think that staying close to him would change how Tai reacts."

"You should've noticed by now," Sayo looks up to the sky. "You're all still friends, but you're not as close as you were before. Matt's busy with his band, Izzy's busy with the… Digimon organization. Joe's trying to be a doctor, Mimi's in another country. Kari, TK, Davis and the others still manage to meet up regularly but that will change too. I think Tai is the one most affected by everyone drifting apart."

"You make it sound so serious. We'll always be friends, there's no changing that."

"The only change is in how close you are. With everyone elsewhere, Kari became the closest to Tai. She knew better than anyone what he goes through. When Kari… died, there was no one that Tai could really lean on. He started shouldering everything himself until he broke."

"So you wanted to make sure that Tai stayed himself."

"At first it was just that, making sure that Tai has someone that'll be there for him when he needs it the most."

"But that's wrong," Sora tells her. "Sure you'll be there for him, but it's not for the right reasons."

"I know," Sayo sighs. "I know… I just thought that it would be enough for someone to be there for him. But as I stayed close to him-"

"You fell for him again."

"His old self. The memories of our time together came flowing back to me. Both the memories of the past, combined with the events of the present…" Sayo sighs. "I feel like, no matter what, I'll always end up with Tai."

"Now don't say that," Sora comforts her. "I know how difficult it is to… move on from someone you practically grew up with. But your feelings are genuine, mine were…"

"Longing?" Sayo completes the sentence for her. "Yeah, Tai never could handle his own feelings very well. No, he was over thinking them, probably afraid of losing what we had built together all these years."

"Stupid Tai."

The two girls giggle a little.

"So, how are things with Matt?"

"We both decided to start over. For the time being we're taking things slowly, with everything that happened recently we thought that it's better to go back to the beginning."

"Are you really alright with me and Tai?"

"It's a weird feeling to find out he cares for you. Almost like losing to a twin sister," Sora smiles. "But the sister is someone you also deeply care for and want the best of both."

Sayo looks at Sora, surprised.

"When we realized who you really were, and how it would affect us, Matt and I decided that we were going to support you both. What's been happening lately has been really hard on Tai…"

"…But he keeps on fighting."

"I think we have you to thank for that," Sora smiles. "No matter what happened to him or how worried you were, you kept him going forward."

"Because I knew he wouldn't go back, no matter what." Sayo replies. "He's stubborn like that."

"That's what we like about him," Sora smiles again, Sayo smirks back.

"What do you think they're talking about?" Marcus motions Tai and Matt to Sora and Sayo.

"Probably just some Sora things," Tai answers.

"'Some Sora things'," Matt repeats while giving Tai a questioning look.

"How else am I supposed to say it?"

"Doesn't weird you out?" Davis asks. "Both of you are dating the same person."

"It's better if we don't think about it," Matt answers. "Sora is Sora."

"And Sayo is Sayo," Tai concludes. "That's all we care about."

"Speaking of which," Takuya spoke out. "How are you guys all getting along?"

"Sora and I…" Matt started. "Well, right now we've decided to start over. Take things slow, we've got a world to save after all."

"Honestly I don't know if we've even started," Tai mutters. "I'm new to this whole dating thing."

"Well, that's typical," Marcus shrugs.

"Like you have any ideas," Tai countered. "Who's that girl you always hang out with? Yoshi?"

"He-e-e-e-y!" Marcus tenses up. "Don't you start."

"Do you have anyone Takuya?" Takato wonders.

"Nope," Takuya answers.

"So blunt," Takato nervously giggles.

"At least she's patient with you," Matt tells Tai. "Just don't forget what happened between you and Sora."

"I won't," Tai replies. "But I'd still like some ideas on what to do or something."

"Me and Sora were planning to go shopping tomorrow, you want to come with?"

"Can't, we agreed to have soccer practice tomorrow. We don't know when the game will be scheduled but we can't just sit around waiting for it."

"Don't sweat it Tai," Marcus smiles. "I'm sure we'll be able to handle practice without you. It'll mean that these two will have to make up for you while you're gone."

"Hey!" Takuya and Takato whined.

"Besides, the park you suggested is a couple streets from your place, right? You can join in after you're done."

"I guess."

"Come on man," Matt pestered. "If you're still nervous, I'll invite Mimi too. She's good to have around for relaxing."

"Dude, you're suggesting we go shopping… with Mimi…"

"She'd probably come anyways if she found out."

Tai groaned a little. "Alright, I could use something different from training all the time, I'm sure the Digimon would like some free time too."

"That's the spirit," Matt smiles.

XXX

* * *

Elsewhere, a hooded young man looks around at his surroundings, streets full of people, then to the sky. "Of all the places, the final root is here."

"So what are we waiting for?" another young man questions, face hidden by a motorcycle helmet, asks. "Let's just blow it already.

"We shouldn't rush," a young woman with a large hat and large sunglasses answers. "There's on fun in that."

"Our… 'partners' in the Dark Ocean have been itching to get out and take on the Digidestined," the hooded man explains. "And with all the new Digidestined all around the city… well, it's going to be one hell of a party. Let's go get ready."

 **XXX**

* * *

Author: I've been struggling with how to continue the story after the Armageddemon battle. I've had a good idea of what to do up until this point, mostly with questions like; "where should the final battle be?", "how to split the combatants up?", "whom should battle whom?", stuff like that.

Like I said before, I'm winging this with a slight idea of what I want to do, but it changes depending on the progress, sometimes it'll go a completely different direction from the original thought process and I have to figure out how to write around that.


	21. Solar Flare

"Heey!" Mimi waved to Tai, Sayo, Matt and Sora. All their digimon greeted each other as well.

"Hey!" Sora and Sayo waved back.

"It's about time you guys got here!" Mimi smiles, with a hint of manipulative tendencies hidden in her smirk. "I've already got a plan on what we're going to do!"

"I hope we visit the food court soon," Agumon tells everyone.

"Me too," Gabumon agrees.

"You're always thinking about food," Biyomon scolds him.

"We should look at all the stores first," Palmon suggested.

"But with Mimi, that could take hours!" Agumon whined.

"Okay everyone!" Mimi exclaims. "Follow my lead!"

"Here we go," Tai face palmed.

"Be nice Tai," Sayo tells him.

"Yeah Tai, after all the work I've put into your uniforms."

"Uniforms?" Sora asks.

"Something Mimi came up with when we went shopping last time," Tai explains. "It's meant for celebrating our progress in the national soccer tournament."

"And I got a super special outfit for Sayo too!"

"F-for me?"

"Of course! You wouldn't believe all the stuff Tai said about you!"

"Oh really?" Sayo turns to Tai with an annoyed look on her face.

"W-what?" Tai nervously backs off. "Don't look at me like that! I didn't say anything bad."

Matt sighs, "Mimi, you do remember that this day was mostly for us, right?"

"I know, but knowing you guys, you could use a little more spice in your dates, otherwise it'd be nothing but awkward silences and boring conversations."

"Boring?" Both Matt and Tai were taken aback by the blunt truth.

"Ouch Mimi," Sora giggles.

"Yeah, I can see that happening," Sayo agrees.

Matt face palms, the digimon snicker.

XXX

* * *

The group goes on their way throughout the mall, checking out stores, looking at several interesting items, restraining the digimon from the food court. Mimi shows them the design of the uniforms she designed, with a lot of praise, but said that she was still working on Sayo's. They all decide to take a break at the food court, with the Digidestined preparing their wallets against their partner's stomachs.

Not too far away, a man with slick blond hair and large shades wearing a leather jacket sat with a woman wearing a large sun hat and fabulous sunglasses in a simple white dress. The woman was sucking a drink through a straw.

At the food court in the center of the mall, with a glass roof high above them and a statue in the middle, Tai and Matt were left alone as the girls and digimon go around for dessert.

"Well, that was something," Tai comments.

"Yeah, it was," Matt agrees. "I hate to say this, but Mimi was right. I don't think we would've been able to have any kind of conversation with the girls without her."

"We never were much for casual talk."

The guy smirked.

"Hey Tai," Matt starts, with an alarmed tone.

"I know," Tai tells him. "Agumon told me about an hour ago. I'm sure Sayo noticed too."

"Gabumon got their scent early on," Matt explains. "But they're not doing anything. I've got a bad feeling."

"I know what you mean," Tai muttered. "I can only make out two of them, where's the third?"

"But one of them is a girl, Mimi?"

"Yeah, who else?"

"Do we make a move?"

"Not yet," Tai answers. "They're waiting for something, and I don't think it'd be a good idea for us to start something here."

"Do we let the girls know?"

"If we can, we should get Sora and Mimi away before anything happens, but I don't think they'll let us. If they're following us this obviously, they're going to act soon."

"How about we act now?" A voice calls to them from afar.

The two boys turn to see the shaded man point a gun at them. They quickly stand up and turned to him. But the man just smirks, pointed the gun upwards and fires. The glass above shatters, Tai and Matt duck under the tables. Beel stands up as the glass falls on him.

"Come on," Beel points the gun at them. "It can't be this easy."

Tai and Matt pull the tables down to shield themselves from incoming bullets.

"Are you gonna transform or not?" Matt asks as bullets fly through the table, barely missing them.

"Waiting for the others," Tai answers.

Beel jumps aside as energy blasts hit the floor around where he stood. Garudamon and Lillymon flew in between Beel and the two boys.

"Took you long enough," Beel taunted sitting at the top of the statue. "Is everyone here?" He looks around as Mimi, Sora and Sayo.

"Matt!" Sayo yells.

"Nice to see you too," Beel waves sarcastically.

"What are you doing here?" Sayo asks.

"Isn't it obvious?" Beel shrugs. "We found the last root. It's time to enjoy ourselves to the fullest, because everyone loves battles where the entire world is on the line."

The group's eyes widened.

"Where? How?" Tai asks.

"At first we were just following you guys to see if you could find it," Beel starts. "Eventually we got tired of waiting for you." Beel sighs. "Then Yagami remembered a strange feeling he had when we broke into your house."

"What?" Tai's asks.

"After a bit of searching, he figured it out." Beel continues. "You should remember what happened right after you defeated Etemon."

"Tai?" Sayo turned to him.

"Me and Agumon returned to the real world, fought Orgemon, then I…" Tai's eyes widened.

"You what?" Sora presses.

"You went through a portal to the digital world," Matt finishes.

"But that was in the real world," Tai mentions.

"We couldn't believe it either," Beel explains. "But sure enough, it's there. It might be why the dimensional barriers here are… weaker than usual."

"How did we miss it?" Tai asks.

"You're not as tuned into the digital world's core as we are," Beel answers. "We can detect these things much better then you."

"I didn't sense anything," Sayo tells him.

"You never absorbed Daemon's power," Beel smirks. "Before, we were all almost as powerful as each other. Now, you don't stand a chance."

"Not alone," Tai yells. "You can't take us all on yourself!"

"Maybe not," Beel shrugs condescendingly. "But I wonder if Kari will last that long."

"What?" Tai eye's widened.

"Here's a question for you, where is Yagami right now?" Beel gives a conniving smirk. "You see, he wants to even the playing field with you. I mean, you have your sister, he doesn't."

Tai clenches his fists.

"Go Tai," Matt tells him. "We'll handle this."

"Matt," Tai sounds relieved, but still unsure.

"Go, leave this to us," Sora adds.

"Thanks," Tai takes out his digivice. "Hope you're ready Agumon!"

"Always! Agumon warp digivolved to… WarGreymon!"

"Gabumon warp digivolved to… MetalGarurumon!"

The two digimon glow and dissolve into whirling blue and orange data, reforming itself into a large white knight. "Omnimon!"

"Let's go Tai!" Sayo tugs on Tai's shoulder.

"Give it everything you've got!" Tai yells to everyone as he turns around and heads for the door. An explosion can be heard behind them.

A sword swings at him from behind a pillar, Sayo blocked it in time with her polearm causing sparks. Tai stopped in his tracks as both Sayo and the attacker hopped back.

"Aww… I thought I had him," the woman in the hat and shades complains.

"I didn't forget about you Mimi," Sayo readies herself.

"Well, what are best friends for?" Mimi sucks on the last of her drink, making a noise through the straw before tossing it into a nearby garbage bin. She then takes off the hat, flings it at Sayo.

Sayo cuts it in two, then notices Mimi rushing in from below and just barely deflects the attack.

"Hmmhmmhmm…" Mimi giggles to herself as she takes off her fabulous shades. "You didn't lose your fighting instinct at all."

"You never were a match for me Mimi," Sayo smiles while getting into position.

"No, I wasn't," Mimi agreed, tosses the glasses aside. She dashes forward again to be blocked by Sayo's scythe.

Sayo notices a difference in power from Mimi's attack. Mimi thrusts her sword repeatedly, Sayo barely manages to block the entire the assault. Tai jumps in swinging his big sword down, Mimi jumped back as the sword hit the floor.

"Tai?" Sayo stares, dumbfounded. "What are you still doing here?"

Tai stands beside Sayo with his sword at the ready. "This will go faster with two of us."

"Sorry Tai, but this one's personal," Sayo places the inner part of her weapon at Tai's waist, she spins him around then tosses him out of the building. "You have to save Kari!"

Tai crashes through the glass doors of the mall, he gets up holding his head. He looks back for a moment seeing Sayo and Mimi going at it with everything they had. He clenches his fist and runs off.

"Smart," Mimi tells Sayo.

"Sorry, Tai's got another girl on his mind," Sayo knocks Mimi away.

"I'm hurt," Mimi jokes. "But true, Kari wouldn't have lasted long enough." Mimi knocks away several energy blasts.

Lillymon and the original Mimi make it to them.

"That's me?" Lillymon's partner asks.

"You should be with Matt and Sora," Sayo tells them.

"Tai and Matt are fighting against their other world selves, why can't I?"

The other Mimi just looks and stares at the original. Lillymon braces for action.

"Umm… Is there something on my face?" Mimi asks.

"It's like… looking into an old mirror," the other Mimi speaks out. "One that can never be fixed." White wind swirls around her feet. The wind rises eventually engulfing her. When the wind blows out, Leopardmon stands firm.

"Hahahaha!" Beel laughs as he jumps up between floors, shooting Omnimon and Garudamon. "Now this party can get started!" Beel jumps up between walls.

"Not so fast!" Omnimon swings his sword.

Beel blocks with his guns, the impact sends him flying up and above the mall roof. "Time to send out the invitations!" Beel spins rapidly, shooting bullets in every direction, creating portals to the Dark Ocean.

"Stop!" Omnimon thrusts with his sword, Beel manages to fold his legs in to avoid the attack then stand on the blade.

"If you want to dance with me so badly, I'll be happy to oblige!" Beel runs down Omnimon's blade and kicks the knight away. Dark wind then surrounds him and his smug face, blowing away to reveal Beelzemon, a different Beelzemon whom now has wings. His guns dissolve into dark data that swirls around his right arm, reforming into a large device enveloping his arm.

"What-?" Matt focuses on Beelzemon's new weapon.

"You like the new look?" the digimon snickers as he pointed the weapon downwards. "I call it my Blast Mode. Let me show you why."

"Everybody out!" Matt dashes for the nearest exit. He grabs Sora and they both run full speed, then Garudamon sweeps them both up.

Lillymon grabs Mimi and flies off with Sayo taking up the rear, keeping an eye on Leopardmon just standing there.

Beelzemon creates a glyph with his new weapon then points through the center of it aiming for the middle of the mall. "Corona Destroyer!"

XXX

* * *

VictoryGreymon turns back to see the building explode. "Guys!" Tai quickly turns back, but stops. "No… they're all right. They have to be."

"Don't delude yourself!" A loud booming voice tells him from below. "You're all going to be nothing but fish food! River of Power!" A powerful blast blows through the water's surface and hits Tai in the chest.

Tai is blasted back towards a building.

"Puppet Pummel!" A metal hammer slams him down to the pavement, making a small crater.

"Giga Cannon!"

Tai barely managed to get up and see two extremely large energy beams head his way, he was still caught in the massive blast and blown back, landing hard on the pavement.

"Augh…" Tai looked up to the sky, seeing a shadowy figure coming down on him. He rolls as the figure comes down with swords impaling the concrete.

"You're still alive," the figure speaks. "That's going to be a last trick of your life!" The figure pulls out both of his swords.

"Piedmon," Tai mutters.

"Don't forget us!" Puppetmon lands beside Piedmon, laughing.

Loud thumps can be heard getting closer with more impact. "Yes, don't forget, as it's going to be last memory you'll ever have!" Machinedramon threatens.

"But we're about to get the best memory ever!" MetalSeadramon rises out of the water. "Our revenge and the destruction of the Digidestined!"

"Dark Masters," VictoryGreymon grits his teeth.

"Come on," Piedmon taunts. "Aren't you happy to see us? Let's turn that frown upside down!" The clown flies forward.

Tai blocks with his sword. "I don't… have time for you!"

"Don't be a spoilsport," Puppetmon jumps above them, ready to hammer Tai in the face. "Let's play some more!"

"Then play with us!" A shield blocks Puppetmon's hammer. "Shield of the Just!" The wooden Mega digimon is blasted back.

"What?" Piedmon looks up at the attacker, he gets punched in the face.

"Hey," Marcus calls the Dark Masters, catching his own fist. "Mind telling me why the four of you are picking on one guy?" ShineGreymon hovers beside him.

"You fool!" MetalSeadramon roars at him as his cannon glows. "If you want to fight so bad, we'll give it to you!" MetalSeadramon is bombarded by flaming energy blasts.

"Who's there?" Machinedramon turns to where the blasts came from. His face is met with a hand mounted positron cannon.

"Hello," Davis waves, cracking a big smile.

Imperialdramon blasts Machinedramon in the face, blowing the big dragon machine back.

"Davis?" Tai look over to all the digidestined around him.

Marcus, Takuya, Takato and Davis all gather around him. VictoryGreymon's form dissolves and Tai walks towards them.

"What are you guys doing here?" Tai asks.

"Izzy told us there would be trouble," Marcus explains. "We were on our way to help when we saw you being attacked."

"Ken's helping organize the new digidestined," Davis tells everyone. "Izzy noticed some strange readings near your place and sent me to check it out. I wasn't expecting this." He turned to see the Dark Masters getting up from where they were knocked down. "It looked like you were in a rush Tai, leave them to us."

"Davis…"

"Yeah," Marcus catches his fist then cracks his neck. "I've been waiting to try out my Agumon's new form on something. I bet it's awesome!" He squees.

"No way," Takuya brushes his comment. "EmperorGreymon's going to wipe the floor with them!"

"Gallantmon is very powerful too!" Takato joined.

"You guys…" Tai demorphed to his human form and stood in front of them. He raised a fist towards them.

Marcus smirks and placed his fist next to Tai's, Takuya, Takato and Davis followed suit.

"Heh," Tai smiles. "Go get them."

"You can count on us!" Marcus tells him. "Break!"

Tai runs off to his home as Davis, Takato, Takuya and Marcus all charge the Dark Masters with their digimon. Tai comes up to his apartment building which is only around the corner he's racing to, he hears a massive explosion, then flames erupted out from the intersection. Two large angels flew out from the corner and slam into the ground. The female was clutching something close to her chest while the male turns around to block a fireball. TK and Kari stick their heads out from Angewomon to see what's happening. A human shaped figure jumped out of the flames and punched MagnaAngemon away, forcing him to devolve.

"Patamon!" TK shouted out.

"You shouldn't be worried about him," the human torch tells him as he rears up another flaming fist. The flaming man is tackled by someone else carrying the shield. The shield wielder keeps running forward. The flaming man plants his feet on the ground, stopping the charge.

"What kept you?" the flames asked through the shield. "Your sister almost died, some brother you are."

"Tai!" Kari calls out.

"Get out of here!"

"But-!"

"GO!"

The flaming man points a fist towards Angewomon, "Sun Fire Arrow."

The angel flies up as a blast of fire hits where they were, she hovers low enough for TK to grab Patamon and flies away.

After watching them leave, Yagami gives a full forced fire punch at the shield, pushing Tai back a few feet. It took Tai a moment to rebalance himself. "You could barely stand that." Yagami took a step forward. "Are you sure you can take me on all by yourself?"

"We'll just have to see, won't we?!"

Flame ignite around both of their feet, they encircle their bodies as they erupt into pillars of fire. When the fire dissipates, VictoryGreymon stood on one side, Apollomon on the other. The armored dragon pulled out his sword and stood ready. The fire god took a step back and got into a fighting pose. They jumped towards each other, fist and sword flying.

 **XXX**

* * *

 **Author:** Sorry for the delay, a lot of stuff is happening lately that I've lowered my priority for writing this (school, video games, digimon research, etc.). I originally planned to write their adventures in the mall in full, but I can't... I just couldn't figure out how it would've gone or what they'd say. I've set up a lot of battles here, and it's going to be a bit of work to try and make each one their own thing instead of everyone just blasting their special attacks at each other.


	22. Lunar Knight

The mall explodes as the Digidestined all burst out through the main entrance. They all land and turn to look at the smoking building. Matt and Sora look upwards to see the portals that Beel opened spewing out various evil looking digimon.

Loud clashing noises divert their focus, in the sky above Beelzemon and Omnimon trade blows. Beel uses his new weapon to counter Omnimon's blade, but his claws are sharp enough to match the knight's armor.

"Omnimon!" Matt yells as his group is getting surrounded by invading digimon. "Tch!"

"Sayo?" Mimi calls. "Now might be a good time for you change."

"I was getting to that! Spirit Evolution!" Sayo throws her weapon, it spins as it slices through several digimon. Sayo herself glows brightly, her glowing form enlarges as pieces of armor appear and attach themselves to her, all the while her weapon also enlarges to match her size. With her transformation complete, she grabs her weapon as it returns, her eyes shine with determination.

Dianamon jumps around, hacking away at the invading digimon coming for the group.

"Garudamon!" Matt yells. "Take me up! I need to be with Omnimon!"

"Got it!" Garudamon lifts him and Sora up to the top of a nearby building.

Matt and Sora watch as Omnimon and Beelzemon Blast Mode continually clash blows while firing powerful energy beams at each other. Garudamon does her best to fend off the invaders.

Dianamon senses something fast, something powerful. She puts up her guard as a four legged brown beast jumps on top of her, getting knocked on her back.

"Surprised Sora?" the beast taunts.

"Mimi?" Sayo's eyes widened. "What-?"

"I call this my Leopard Mode, stronger, faster," the beast's face leans in. "Feral…"

Sayo kicks her off, she gets up to face her opponent. Out of the corner of her eye she sees Lillymon struggling against the invading digimon.

Leopardmon steps a paw forward. "Even if you could fight us evenly, you can't fight all these digimon."

"Well, what are friends for?" Sayo smirks.

The invading digimon are attacked suddenly attacked. Sakuyamon, Ravemon and MagnaGarurumon quickly sweep through hordes of invading digimon. Up above, MetalKabuterimon, MegaGargomon and Rosemon shoot down the fliers harassing Matt and Sora. Matt turns to the street to see MegaGargomon's partner waving to him.

Sakuyamon's partner runs up to Dianamon, "We'll take care of the city, you guys do what you need to do." She then leaves to help her digimon partner.

"You heard her," Sayo goes into a ready stance. "We can battle to our heart's content."

"To be honest, I was hoping for that," Mimi rears up her front legs. "Wolkenkratzer!" The leopard slams her front feet onto the ground. Pillars of earth rise up and head towards Dianamon.

The white knight leaps to avoid the pillar. She's tackled by a black being into a building wall. Dianamon rolls through desks and cubicles. She braces for another attack, Leopardmon bites Sayo's polearm. Leopardmon raises a claw to swipe Dianamon's face. Dianamon throws the beast to the floor and raises her weapon to strike her down. Leopardmon jumps aside and tackles Dianamon incredibly quickly. The knight stops herself from flying out of the building, sees Leopardmon ready to charge again, one of her quills begin to glow.

"Artemis Arrow!" Sayo pulls out the glow from her quill and holds her weapon like a bow, a magical thread forms for her to pull back.

Leopardmon zigzags intensely as she rushes in. Dianamon pretends to aim at the barely visible digimon, then shoots the floor nearby. A pool of ice forms that Leopardmon slips on, sending the panther into the air outside. Dianamon jumps after, raising her harken.

"Lunar Sickle!" Sayo swings down as hard as she could. Her attack is blocked by a thin blade, Leopardmon had changed back.

"So close," Mimi taunts as she forces back Dianamon's weapon. "Extinction Wave!" Mimi swings her sword rapidly, firing off slash waves into Dianamon. The knight is knocked out of the air. "I won't let you go that easily. "Black Aura Blast!"

Dianamon is blasted into the side of a building. Leopardmon dives in after her, sword first. The knight just barely parried the blow, the blade shines beside her eyes. "You shouldn't have held back!" Mimi sees Sayo's widen before headbutting her. She then jumps back, transforming into her Leopard mode once again.

"Wolkenkratzer!" Mimi slams the wall behind Sayo, creating pillars of rock from the wall, heavily damaging the knight. The leopard watches from one of the pillars as her former friend fell to the ground. "I guess… love doesn't conquer anything after all." Mimi changes back to her regular digimon form. "This really is goodbye, not just to you, but to me as well." Mimi walks off the pillar, letting gravity take her above where Sayo fell. She prepares her blade, ready to pierce through her friend.

A vine wraps around Leopardmon's arm and the digimon is pulled off her course, getting thrown into another building's windows. The vines retract back into BanchoLillymon as she hovers in front of the recovering Dianamon.

"Are you alright?" Lillymon asks.

"Y-yeah, give me a moment," Sayo responds. "Lillymon? What-?"

"It's a long story that I don't want to talk about," Lillymon answers. "But for some reason, I feel stronger like this."

"Sayo!" Mimi calls from afar, waving a water bottle. "Catch!"

"Thank you!" Sayo crushes the bottle above herself, healing whatever damage she sustained.

"Lillymon…" Leopardmon slowly walked towards the edge of the floor she was thrown into, she dissolves her form back into Mimi. "Of all the enemies I could be facing, I didn't want one of them to be you."

"Would letting someone else take me out have made you feel better?" Lillymon retorts.

The other Mimi didn't answer.

"You're already trying to kill Sayo," Mimi adds. "If you've already gone that far, why would you still try to spare Lillymon?"

"Lillymon was the very last digimon our group had," Sayo starts. "It was her that ultimately destroyed the D-Reaper."

"What? Really?" Mimi and BanhoLillymon stare at Sayo, jaws dropped.

"Izzy and Gennai… made a bomb," Sayo starts. "Specifically to destroy the D-Reaper. But after destroying the core's defenses, none of us was able actually get to the core. Only full, actual digimon could. Lillymon was the only one left. But once she was through, she would be dissolved, eaten until nothing more than a memory. But she knew, she knew what she'd be going through, and she did it in the hopes of saving the world."

"Why didn't you mention this before?"

Sayo didn't answer.

"It doesn't matter if she told you or not," the other Mimi called out. "What she did, what she sacrificed herself for, it was for nothing. When I see you, I can only remember the last time I saw her. She was smiling, hoping that she would save our world, save me…" The other Mimi wiped her eyes. "That's why… I don't want to fight you! Please, Lillymon, you have to leave!"

Lillymon silently shakes her head. "I can't, Mimi. Your Lillymon… she fought to protect your world all the way to the end. If I ran from you, the one trying to destroy our world, I would be destroying the memories your Lillymon, who gave herself up with the hopes of saving you."

"Lillymon…" the other Mimi had to cover her eyes with her arm. "You're right. The only thing I have left of Lillymon is her memory, but… there's no stopping me now." A dark aura whirls around the other Mimi, steadily intensifying. "So fight, both of you. Fight not only to protect your world, but to protect the memory of ours." Mimi's form changes to that of Leopardmon, the blade gleams brighter, sharper, than usual. BanchoLillymon and Dianamon prepare themselves for battle. Leopardmon and Dianamon jump towards each other.

XXX

* * *

Beelzemon Blast Mode and Omnimon exchange blasts of power in the sky. After dodging a blast, Omnimon dashes in to swing his sword. Beelzemon blocks with his weapon arm.

"Is this really all the power you've got?" Beel taunts. "You won't beat me with that!" Beel kicks Omnimon away. "Double Impact!" The demon pulls out his handguns and unloads a barrage.

The knight covers himself with his cape, the bullets bounce off the cape. He charges through the bullets surprising Beel. He swings his sword, Beel just barely avoided getting cut in half and hovers back a bit.

"How's that?"

Beel smirks. "Don't get cocky. I haven't seven started."

"You could barely fight me with Apollomon, you can't beat me alone."

"Ha! As if I needed him to beat you." Beel's body emits a ghastly aura. "Unlike you, I don't need any friends."

"It's our friends that make us stronger!" Omnimon dives with his sword ready.

"You're delusional!" Beel super speeds away from Omnimon's attack.

The surprised knight is hit from behind.

"Dark Claw!"

Omnimon barely managed to block the attack with his sword, Beel gripped the blade with his dark covered hand. He takes out a gun with his other hand and blasts Omnimon on the chest.

"Rgh!" Omnimon takes a couple shots then swings his sword, throwing Beel away. "Supreme Cannon!"

Beel avoided all the energy spheres that Omnimon fired at him. "Corona Blaster!" The demon digimon fires back with his own energy blasts.

The projectiles collide between the digimon, a wall of smoke and explosions fills the sky. Omnimon stops firing into the cloud, waiting for his opponent. A faint glow could be seen as the smoke thins out, it was a bright pentagram in front of Beelzemon and his weapon arm charged up.

"Corona Destroyer!"

Omnimon brings up his sword to block the beam. He loses sight of the demon after the beam dissipates. The knight sees a blur slightly below him.

"Dark Claw!" Beel slashes across Omnimon's chest, leaving three scratches. "Corona Blaster!" Bee aims for the openings in the knight's chest.

"Argh!" The knight is hit relentlessly. His body flies above the roof Matt and Sora were on.

"Dark Claw!" Beel flies past the knight, slashing him with his hand once again. Then he points his weapon arm at him. Omnimon is lodged onto the end of the gun. "Corona Blaster!"

Omnimon is blasted out of the sky, his body falls nearby Matt and Sora.

"Omnimon!" Matt cries.

"I'm fine…" Omnimon uses his sword to help him get back up.

"You're far from fine," Beel hovers down in front of them. "You're weak. It's pathetic. How could our most powerful digimon be this pitiful?"

"You-!" Matt starts.

"That's right," Beel admires his arm. "Me… Ever since I've started looking out for myself, I've gotten much more powerful. Friends are nothing more than a handicap, a distraction!"

"Looking out for yourself?" Matt rebuts. "You can't even do anything without the others!"

"I'm only using them to have fun," Beel tells him. "I don't care for them at all. It's that stupid Tai that's been trying to get to Sora. If I were leading, I wouldn't have bothered." He points one of his handguns at Sora. "I'd have just done this."

"Sora!" Matt cries.

Beel fires the shot, Garudamon takes the bullet and devolves back to Biyomon.

"Biyomon!" Sora screams as she catches her partner.

"You're open!" Beel yells at the distracted Matt. He fire his handgun at the blond.

Omnimon blocks the bullet with his blue hand.

"Tch, so you can still move like that," Beel puts away his gun and brings out his Corona weapon, creating a pentagram and sticking his arm through it. "Let's see if you can block this!"

"Matt!" Omnimon steps between Matt and the attack. His back takes the full energy blast. Omnimon's body glows, changing into its more powerful form.

"Omnimon!" Matt calls out.

"Matt!" Sora calls out through the blinding light.

"All Delete!" Omnimon X swings his sword through the energy blast, splitting the attack in half.

Beelzemon jumped to avoid the slash wave. He smiles, "Now that's more like it!" The demon rushes in, guns blazing.

 **XXX**

* * *

 **Author** : Somehow managed to put this chapter together. I wasn't sure how I wanted the battles to go, but I do know that everyone needs to powerup, now we've got Beelzemon Blast Mode vs Omnimon X, Leopardmon that can transform into Leopard Mode against Dianamon and BanchoLillymon. I'm not aware of any alternate forms for Dianamon so I just went and gave her a partner, however I have extremely little knowledge of BanchoLillymon's strengths and abilities so her powers may end up being... boosted for the sole purpose of having her hang with the other fighters on the field.


	23. Avalanche

Fires danced around as Apollomon and VictoryGreymon exchanged blows. Tai was doing his best to keep up with Yagami's speed and power. But it's become clear that Tai is at a major disadvantage. While he was able to get a few hits in, Yagami was exploiting openings and blind spots all over Tai's instinctive fighting.

"What's the matter?" Yagami taunts from within Apollomon's form. "You have the power you've always wanted, right? The power to protect your friends?" Yagami avoids another attack then immediately counters, sending Tai into the air, the dragon landed flat on his back cracking the road. "So why can't you?"

"I.. already am…" Tai gets up slowly and readies his stance. "I'm standing here, in front of you. I'm fighting you."

"'Fighting'?" Apollomon scoffs. "You call this fighting? Don't make me laugh." The lion charges forward, fists aflame.

VictoryGreymon blocks a punch with his sword, Apollomon sidesteps the defence and lands a knuckle to the face. This disorientated Tai enough to get kneed in the gut. VictoryGreymon's throat is grabbed then the dragon is chokeslammed onto the pavement.

"You're not fighting," Yagami plants a foot on Tai's chest and leans in close. "You're pathetic."

Tai manages to punch Apollomon off of him, he gets up quickly and grabs his swords. With full force he swings. Apollomon blocks the attack, but is pushed back. Apollomon peeked out and is met with a fist to the face. The lion counters with his own punch, Tai deflects then headbutts the lion. Yagami stumbles backwards.

"I might not be as strong, or experienced as you," Tai steps forward, then speeds up to a jog. "But what's so pathetic about fighting to protect?!" Tai uppercuts the dazed double, sending him into the air. Tai combines his swords then jumps after him. "You should know the feeling!" He swings his sword down as hard as he could, sending the lion monster into a construction yard at a pier. Tai landed in front of the smoke where Apollomon crashed.

"You're right," the smoke began to clear as a shadowy figure walks through it, with the sound of a giant chain dragging behind. "I did know the feeling, so I know how it feels to lose everything. Rragh!"

The chain is swung around, it gets wrapped around VictoryGreymon.

"I know the desperation you feel!" Apollomon yanked the chain. "The weight of on your shoulders!" He clotheslines the dragon. "The hope you so frantically cling onto!" He pulls the chain again, then catches the dragon in his arms. "It's all meaningless…" The lion suplexed the dragon so hard the ground cratered and the chains shattered.

VictoryGreymon struggles to move, a foot planted itself on his back.

"Why keep this up?" Yagami wonders. "If you die and your world ends, there's another world out there where you still live. If you win and save the world, there's another world where you fail and that world dies. There are even other worlds where none of this ever happens, no Digimon, no adventure, just you living out your boring little life. So why? Why are you still fighting?"

"Because…" Tai pushes harder. "There's only one me!" Tai punches through the bottom of the pier and into the water, surprising Yagami and making him jump back.

Apollomon looked at the hole in the ground going into the water, not noticing the large rising boat behind him. Sensing something amiss, Yagami turns around to see the boat thrown in his direction. The lion tries to stop it with his hands, his feet drags through the ground, the boat pushes him all the way to the side of a building. VictoryGreymon busts through the boat and tackles Apollomon through the building. Apollomon reaches over and wraps his arms around VictoryGreymon's waist, he suplexes the dragon digimon.

"Don't be ridiculous," Apollomon kicks VictoryGreymon away. "What you accomplish means nothing, not even in your own world." He watches Tai get up. "You might be a hero for a day, a month, a few years. But in the end you'll be forgotten like everything else. Ask yourself, what are you fighting for?"

"Myself," Tai answers. "You were me at one time. Now here you are, destroying worlds. I know what happened to you, and I can only imagine how you became the way you are. But I hate you, I hate how you've turned back on everything we grew up with. You're a future I don't want to happen!"

"Would you be saying that if you've been through what I've been through?"

"Probably not. But now that I know better, I'm fighting to keep me… me. I don't want to lose any of the friendships I have, we've finally come back together, really together in the longest time, and it's all thanks to Sayo. I don't want all of her work to be for nothing!"

"You love her love her that much?"

Tai realizes what he just said.

"I really have lost everything, then this world is of no use to me anymore." Apollomon fires a flame fist into the sky. The fireball hits something invisible, cracking the sky. The cracks increase, quickly forming a sphere. The cracked sphere shatters revealing a shining ball with data streams flowing into and out of it.

"The root!"

"The last root," Yagami reminds him. "It's probably been fortified to be thicker since we already wrecked the others, so now it'll need one really powerful hit to destroy it. Fortunately…" Apollomon's fire aura turns an eerie black. "I have that kind of power." Apollomon's red armor turned blue.

Tai could feel the immeasurable strength coming from him now.

"This is my Whispered Mode."

XXX

* * *

"Positron Laser!" Imperialdramon rips into the river, following MetalSeadramon's shadow.

The sea dragon rises up and aims at his foe. "River of Power!"

"Dive! Dive!" Davis yells.

Imperialdramon dives into the river.

"You think you can beat me in the sea!?" MetalSeadramon follows after.

The two dragons go deep into the water, MetalSeadramon is quickly catching up to Imperialdramon.

"I've got you now!" MetalSeadramon's nose lights up.

Imperialdramon turns around, aiming his own attack.

Davis watches as the river explodes, "Now!"

Imperialdramon grabs MetalSeadramon by the tail and swings him around, slamming his head into the ground and buildings.

"Finish it!"

Imperialdramon throws MetalSeadramon into the sky. Then his chest cannon opens up. "Giga Crusher!"

MetalSeadramon is engulfed in a wide energy beam, disintegrating him.

"Dragonfire Crossbow!" EmperorGreymon unleashes a barrage of flaming bullets at Puppetmon.

"Gatling Hammer!" Puppetmon's hammer shoots out energy bullets that intercept the flaming shots. The sky is filled with explosions.

A wooden cross flies through the smoke, hitting EmperorGreymon in the face. Puppetmon flies through the cloud himself.

"Puppet Pummel!" Puppetmon swings his hammer as hard as he could.

EmperorGreymon effortlessly blocks the attack. "Pyro Dragons!" The area around EmperorGreymon is engulfed in flame. The fire erupts upwards, dragging Puppetmon along with it, EmperorGreymon flies above the puppet, raising his sword above him. "Ryugonken!" The sword gathers flames as the dragon digimon dives down, he slashes the flames, and Puppetmon, in half.

"Trump Sword!" Piedmon throws his swords at ShineGreymon.

The dragon tries to deflect the blades, only for the blades to disappear. Several more blades appear out of thin air and fly around ShineGreymon. The swords appear and disappear continuously. The blades constantly attack the dragon from all sides without giving him room to maneuver.

"Clown Trick!" A large ball forms in the sky, flattening ShineGreymon, then explodes. "Hahaha! Had enough!?"

"No!" ShineGreymon gets up, his wings glow. "Feast your eyes on this! Glorious Burst!" A flaming dome erupts from ShineGreymon, knocking Piedmon away. "GeoGrey Sword!" ShineGreymon impales Piedmon, causing him to dissolve into data.

"Giga Cannon!" Machinedramon unloads a barrage of massive energy beams onto Gallantmon, whom swiftly dodges every attack

"Lighting Joust!" Gallantmon thrusts into Machinedramon's chest.

Machinedramon digs his feet into the ground, Gallantmon's attack didn't move him. He whacks the knight away then stampedes forward. Gallantmon quickly gets up onto his feet.

"Dragon Fire!" Machinedramon's hand spins like a drill, using the full power of his charge, he hits Gallantmon's shield. The knight is sent flying through a couple buildings. Not giving him a chance to rest, Machinedramon lights up his weapons. "Giga Cannon!"

The twin energy blasts rip through rows of buildings. Gallantmon had jumped away in time to avoid getting hit, and he jumped again to dodge a falling building. The knight sees Machinedramon's weapons lighting up again, so he plants he feet and raises his shield.

"Shield… of the Just!" Gallantmon's beam flies first.

"Giga Cannon!" Machinedramon's attack eats right through Gallantmon's!

"Positron Laser!"

"Dragonfire Crossbow!"

Imperialdramon and EmperorGreymon add their power to Gallantmon's, but even then it was barely enough to fight back. Machinedramon stepped forward, pushing his attack closer to the digidestined's partners. A bright light shine above Imperialdramon, Gallantmon and EmperorGreymon, ShineGreymon hovers down to their level with wings glowing bright.

"Shining Blast!"

ShineGreymon's wings fire off a tremendous energy blast to help his friends. The attack was enough to push all their combined powers towards Machinedramon. The giant dragon attempted to avoid it, but half his form is vaporized.

"Hehehe… hahaha!" Machinedramon laughs.

"What's so funny?" Davis asks. "You're beaten!"

"You have no idea what you've done," Machinedramon pointed to the sky above the river.

The digidestined turned to see several dark bits of data gathering around a singular point. The data was coming from several invading digimon that the other digidestined around the city were fighting off.

"What is that?" Takato asks.

"Your end…" Machinedramon give out another laugh as his body completely breaks down. His data hovers to where all the other data gathered.

"I don't know what that is," Marcus tells the others. "But I know it's going to be bad. ShineGreymon!"

ShineGreymon leads the charge towards the gathering clouds of dark data.

"Positron Laser!"

"Lightning Joust!"

"Dragonfire Crossbow!"

"Shining Light!"

The Megas unload on the gathering clouds. Their attacks were intercepted by energy blasts from above. Apocalymon descends from the clouds in front of the four digimon.

"Hahaha!" Apocalymon laughs. "What's the matter? Surprised to see me?"

"That's Apocalymon!" Davis tells the other boys as another large shadow drops down on the three digimon.

A massive claw swipes at them, the armored digimon spread out to avoid the claw.

"VenomMyotismon…" Takato mutters.

"I can fight VenomMyotismon!" EmperorGreymon tells the other digimon as he flies towards the giant vampire. "Pyro Dragons!"

"Let's go!" ShineGreymon motions for the other two to go with him.

ShineGreymon, Imperialdramon and Gallantmon all fly towards the cloaked being at the top of the structure. Apocalymon laughs as he sends his claws and chains against the three attackers.

"Surprise baby!" Imperialdramon is punched by a shiny metal fist.

Gallantmon follows the bright sheen as it surfs on Apocalymon's chains.

"Is that a…" Takuya squints his eyes. "Shiny metal monkey?"

"The king is back!" MetalEtemon jumps between the flying chains.

Apocalymon sends chains and energy beams to pin down the three digimon while Etemon jumps in for bonus sneak attacks. The digimon fight back destroying several of Apocalymon's claws, but Apocalymon's main body kept producing more. The three digimon were quickly getting overwhelmed. The chains somehow wrap themselves around the digimon and MetalEtemon jumped extremely high into the sky. The monkey dives down head first, ready to punch with all of his might. ShineGreymon's wings glow.

"Glorious Burst!" ShineGreymon's power breaks Apocalymon's chains, the blast is strong enough to disrupt MetalEtemon's fall.

"Lightning-!" Gallantmon impales MetalEtemon. "Joust!" A shining blast blows the metal monkey into the sky, the beam drills through the monkey, causing him to explode.

"Shining Blast!" ShineGreymon unloads on Apocalymon's remaining chains and claws.

The sky is filled with curving beams, chains and explosions. Apocalymon begins to fill the sky with cains faster than ShineGreymon can destroy them.

"Shield of the Just!" Gallantmon blasts an opening through the chains and barely misses Apocalymon. "GO!"

Imperialdramon flies full speed through the opening while ShineGreymon covers him. Imperialdramon sees the chains closing together. Some of Apocalymon's claws manage to grab Imperialdramon's legs. Chains wrap around the dragon's arms. Imperialdramon opens his chest.

"Giga Crusher!" Imperialdramon blasts through the chains, hitting Apocalymon's main body, disintegrating it.

"Dragonfire Crossbow!" EmperorGreymon blasts VenomMyotismon, covering him in explosions.

The giant vampire walks through it and tries to swing at the fire dragon. He fire energy beams as the dragon flies around avoiding it.

"Pyro Dragons!" The sky erupts in flame, 8 dragons of fire soar around. The dragons block the vampire beams as they charge forward.

VenomMyotismon is burned as the dragons ram into him from every direction, the flaming dragons then gather and swirl into a drill headed for VenomMyotismon's chest. The vampire tried to grab it and stop it, EmperorGreymon emerges from the tip of the drill, his sword flaming.

"Ryugonken!" EmperorGreymon impales VenomMyotismon, the sword erupts into explosive flame, disintegrating VenomMyotismon in seconds.

"Yeah!" Davis jumps, Takuya and Takato high five each other, Marcus smirks.

But the data that the defeated digimon left behind hovered towards the rest. The dark data seems to be disappearing where they gathered. Then loud pounding is heard coming for that point in the sky. Louder, stronger, the pounding continued. The sky itself cracked, then massive green flaming claws pierced through the cracks. The claws force open the sky into a portal to the Dark Ocean, but the one opening the sky smashes his head through into the human world. The head of a demon looks around at the stunned Mega level digimon, the demon rips the opening wider before smashing through with its legs. It lets out a deafening roar that sends out large waves and makes the air itself tremble. The boy's Mega level digimon felt the tremors in full, taking damage just from the roar alone.

"What in the world is that?!" Davis yells out.

In the command center, Izzy and Gennai scramble as the digital readings everywhere spiked way beyond what their instruments could measure. Izzy did what he could to get information on the newly emerged digimon, his computer came back with the Ultra level digimon, "Belphemon Rage Mode".

* * *

 **Author:** Now for the other set of fights to get their upgrades, Tai is alone against Apollomon Whispered Mode Yagami when regular Apollomon clearly had the upper hand, and the soccer team (+Davis) escalates their foes rapidly up to Belphemon Rage Mode. This chapter's upgrades are more one sided than the last one, the guys are totally overwhelmed, it'll be interesting to see how I wing these fights.


	24. High Noon Showdown

Sayo and the other Mimi exchange blades, Dianamon spins her polearm to block all of Leopardmon's rapid thrusts. BanchoLillymon jumps in with a kick, the winged knight hops back as the gangster plant's heel breaks the floor. The plant girl throws her yoyo, the winged knight deflects with her blade, the white knight shoots an arrow, Leopardmon sidesteps the shot, then held her weapon back.

"Black Aura Blast!"

Dianamon and BanchoLillymon evade the beam, Leopardmon transforms and charges. She tackles the plant monster away, then jumps at the knight. Dianamon blocks the claws with her polearm. Dianamon swings her blades to match Leopardmon's swipes. The leopard vanished through speed, the knight is attacked from all sides near simultaneously.

A spinning vine breaks out of the ground around Dianamon surrounding her, stalling the beast. Stopping to observe, Leopardmon's leg is wrapped up. Lillymon pulls the large cat off the ground and swings her into a building.

"Extinction Wave!" Slash waves fly out from the building.

Lillymon dances around the waves. Leopardmon normal mode dashes forward with her sword in hand. BanchoLillymon and the Leopardmon exchange attacks, a flinging yoyo vs a thin sword.

"Who gave you those gaudy clothes?" Leopardmon asks as she thrusts.

"It wasn't my choice," Lillymon answers while avoiding the sword and wrapping it up in vines. "Mimi picked these out!" Lillymon yanks the sword away from Leopardmon, pulling the knight with it, then kneeing her in the gut.

Leopardmon grabbed Lillymon's leg, then tossed her away. "What has my other dimension self been doing with you?" She sighed while palming her face.

"I can hear you!" Mimi yells from below.

Leopardmon turns her head in time to see Dianamon's halberd flying at her and avoid it. She grabbed the weapon and kicked Dianamon to the ground. Leopardmon follows carrying Dianamon's weapon. Sayo sees her coming and quickly scans where she landed, spotting Leopardmon's sword. The white knight rolled over it and blocks her own weapon.

"How do you fight with this thing?" the other Mimi asks.

"It's all in the legs," Sayo kicks her off then gets up. She swings the sword swiftly, forcing Leopardmon on the defensive.

Leopardmon's unfamiliarity with Dianamon's weapon causes her to lose balance, Dianamon knocks the polearm into the air above. As Dianamon briefly looked up to see where it would land, Leopardmon sweeps the white knight off her feet, causing her to drop the sword. Leopardmon rushed to pick it up then jumped to stab Dianamon. The white knight rolled away and onto her feet, catching the falling polearm, twirls it around then poses into a fighting stance.

Leopardmon poses with her sword, ready to strike. "Hmph, showoff."

Beelzemon Blast Mode and Omnimon X fill the sky with explosions. Beel's weapon arm and Omnimon's blade clash, Beel's claw glows and he tries to grab Omnimon's face, he got the Garuru arm instead. Omnimon fires his arm, using the recoil to spin really fast and cut Beelzemon's chest.

Beel feels his chest, then smirks. "Heh…" Beelzemon points his blaster. "Corona Blaster!"

Omnimon dashes forward, deflecting the blasts. Beel vanishes through speed, the knight looks around, then is slashed across the chest, on the shoulder, then uppercutted at the chin. Then Beelzemon placed a hand on the knight's chest then shoves him down to the top of the building.

"Omnimon!" Matt yells.

"You're definitely more powerful," Beelzemon compliments as he floats upwards. "But your power means nothing if you can't touch me."

Everyone feels a sudden gust of wind blow past them.

Beelzemon turns to the river to see Belphemon Rage Mode standing in the water and several other digimon floating around. "They got that thing out faster than I thought. I was hoping to have a little more time to mess with you before I kill you."

"What is that?" Matt asks.

"The end of the world," Beelzemon smiles. "If we don't cause it, that thing will. So before it comes here to slaughter you, I'm going to keep the satisfaction of killing you myself." Beel draws his handgun, the demon was blasted by Omnimon, dropping the gun. "I've got no time for you!" Beelzemon materializes his blaster and creates a pentagram. "I'll just blast all of you to smithereens! Corona Destroyer!"

"All Delete!" Omnimon X swings his blade beam through the demon's attack.

Beelzemon increases his output to push against the slash wave.

"Supreme Cannon!" Omnimon shoots at his own attack to force it through the demon's beam.

Beelzemon stops his attack and evades the incoming combination. "You want to die first? Be my guest!" Beelzemon flies forward.

Omnimon fills the sky with energy blasts, Beelzemon speedily avoids the blasts, seemingly warping between attacks.

"Darkness Claw!" Beelzemon brings his hand down, Omnimon blocks it. "What? How?"

"Omega… inForce…" Omnimon pushes Beelzemon away. "I can see… your moves!" Omnimon follows with a thrust. Beelzemon speeds away, Omnimon turns and blocks another claw swipe.

"Rrrgh!" Beel growls. He pulls out his other gun and starts firing point blank at the knight's face. "You see this? YOU SEE THIS?! EAT IT!"

Omnimon grabs the demon's leg, he spins the three eyed monster around the throws him to the side of a building. Omnimon dives after him, charging his cannon. By the time Beelzemon looked up, the cannon was ready to fire.

"Supreme Cannon!" Omnimon X punched Beelzemon through the building then fires his laser blast to send him flying through some more until Beelzemon was wedged into an inner wall.

"No… NOOO!" Beelzemon starts emitting dark energy all over his body. He sees Omnimon flying towards him, Beelzemon busts out his dark claws and vanished.

Omnimon blocks Beelzemon's first attack, but couldn't stop his second, the knight barely blocked the third. Beelzemon grabbed the knight's head with his dark claws and slams him into a wall.

"You might be able to see my moves, but like I said," Beelzemon brings his head in close. "It's pointless if you can't touch-"

"Oof!" Dianamon is knocked into Beelzemon, both of them tumble on the floor.

"Dianamon?" Omnimon looks at her dumbfounded.

"Look out!" Dianamon points at where she flew in from.

Omnimon X brings out his sword and stops Leopardmon Leopard Mode in her tracks. "What? Who?"

"Don't you recognize me Omnimon?" the leopard shines then Leopardmon appears. "Extinction Wave!" Leopardmon barrages Omnimon X from close range, too fast for Omnimon to react.

"Omnimon!" Dianamon cries out.

"Worry about yourself," Beelzemon pointed his blaster at her face. His arm is wrapped up in vines and his arm is tugged as he fires. "The hell?"

"Lunar Sickle!" Dianamon swings her weapon into him, knocking him away.

Omnimon pushes through Leopardmon's barrage and takes several swings at her. The smaller knight evades easily, she transforms into her Leopard Mode then tackles Omnimon back into the wall.

"Wolkenkratzer!"

Omnimon is blasted out of the building.

"Eroberung!" Leopardmon launches energy orbs from her tail that follows Omnimon into the air.

The large knight stops midair, he notices all the glowing orbs flying towards him. "Supreme Cannon!" Omnimon fires a single large beam to blow them all up at once. The knight was suddenly pounded by a fast moving figure.

"Ugh!" Omnimon reacts to the blows. "Why… ooph… does everyone… ack… have… ow… super speed?!" Omnimon's eyes gleam, he starts to see Leopardmon's movements before she follows through. Omnimon raises his knee and hits the leopard on the gut. Surprised, the beast couldn't react to Omnimon's following attack, a downward slash.

Leopardmon's body crashes into the ground. She painfully scrambles onto her feet and looks up, she sees Omnimon charging up his cannon.

Beelzemon and Dianamon's weapons clash as a bright beam of light shines behind them. Beelzemon's arm cannon can effectively block Dianamon's weapon, but the size and weight put it at a disadvantage in close range. The demon compensates with his handgun to put Dianamon at a distance, but he often uses it to keep BanchoLillymon dodging.

"Come on!" Beelzemon angrily yells. "I'll take on both of you!" He blocks one of Dianamon's swings with his small gun then knocks her away with his gun-arm. Then he fires bullets at the plant, who dives for cover.

Vines erupt from the ground beneath Beelzemon flies upwards and aims his gun-arm down. Beel blasts the vines to smithereens, he's kicked in the back of the head by a leafy boot. He recovers and points his gun, his arm is wrapped in a vine tied up to a streetlamp. Bancholillymon jumps up and rapidly kicks him in the chest, pushing him back with each strike. Beel fires his gun-arm, using the recoil to get away from Lillymon. The plant mon tosses her yoyo after him, wrapping it around his body. She yanks on it pulling the two of them together incredibly fast, Lillymon twirls around and sweeps her leg at his head. The demon topples around until he could stabilize himself. He fires his small gun at the vine wrapped around the lamppost to destroy it. Now free, Beelzemon uses his super speed to overwhelm BanchoLillymon, slashing at her from all angles, then blasts her with a large beam into the ground.

"How the hell are you do damn strong?" he asks wiping the blood off his lips as BancoLillymon emerges from the smoke, heavily damaged but still moving. "There's no way you can be that strong."

"I have Mimi and my friends fighting beside me! I'm also fighting for-…" Lillymon trails off.

"Huh?" Beel scowls. "Friendship again? Bah." He points his blaster at Mimi. "Let's see your friendship stop this!"

"No!"

Dianamon comes up from under Beelzemon, knocking the gun upwards just as the energy blast fired.

"You again?!" Beel screams out as she knocks him away with her weapon.

"We're a team," Dianamon responds. "You are stronger than each of us, but you're not stronger than both of us!"

"You…"

Knight form Leopardmon jumps off of a building wall, dashing towards the floating knight. Omnimon swings his sword, Leopardmon twists her body to avoid it, then rapidly stabs Omnimon in the chest.

"Black Aura Blast!" Leopardmon fires a point blank energy wave into Omnimon's body.

The great knight stands firm against the beam, he twists his body to roll off the energy wave, then points his cannon. "Supreme Cannon!"

Leopardmon avoids the blast then dives down, the smaller knight throws her blade at the larger. Omnimon deflects it but is slammed by Leopard Mode down to the ground.

"Wolkenkratzer!"

Omnimon is slammed by Leopardmon's powerful paws and the rising earth behind him, stunning him. The rising earth pillars also launch up Leopardmon's sword into the air.

Leopardmon returns to her knight form and catches the sword. "Black Aura-"

The large white knight grabbed her leg, and yanked her off balance. He spins her around and throws her into a wall. Then he points his cannon. "Supreme Cannon!"

As the beam blasts through the air beside them, Dianamon and BanchoLillymon overwhelm Beelzemon with their agility and combination. Dianamon distracts him enough for Lillymon to wrap his arms together. Dianamon brings the inside of her weapon around Beelzemon's waist. She spins him around and throws him into Omnimon's attack.

The beam ends at a large building, both Beelzemon and Leopardmon pull themselves out of the wall.

"Dammit!" Beelzemon yells out. "How am I losing? I've absorbed Daemon's power, I'm more powerful than ever! How did they get so strong?!"

"Here they come," Leopardmon tells him as Omnimon X, Dianamon and BanchoLillymon fly towards them.

"I'll show them, I'm more powerful than they are!" Beel creates a pentagram and charges his blaster.

"Get behind me!" Omnimon X dashes forward of Dianamon and Lillymon.

"Corona…" "Black Aura…"

Omnimon's sword glows as he readies to attack.

"Destroyer!" "Blast!" Beelzemon and Leopardmon's attacks merge into one powerful beam.

"ALL DELETE!" Omnimon launches an energy sword slash.

The slash wave eats through the combined energy blast.

"Rragh!" Beelzemon unloads more power into his attack, to no effect.

Leopardmon realizes what Omnimon's attack is really doing. "Move it!" Leoparmon tackles Beelzemon out of the way as Omnimon's attack slams into the building.

"What's the big idea?!"

"That attack was doing something strange, it isn't overpowering our attacks, it was dissolving them. It's not something we can stop."

"Are you calling me weak?!"

"What are-"

"Mimi!" Sayo yells out.

Leopardmon looks down to see Beelzemon's claw piercing her body, dropping her sword. Dark energy seeped from her body into his arm. Her digimon form dissolves and her human form emerges. Mimi gasps out loud, Sora sees Matt clench his fist tight. Beelzemon pulls out his claw, the other Mimi's body falls to the ground.

"Mimi!" Dianamon dashes forward as fast as she could. She quickly realizes she can't make it. "No!"

Vines pop out from the ground to cushion the other Mimi's fall. The vines lay her down gently as Dianamon reverts into Sayo and lays her head on her lap.

"Mimi! Mimi!" Sayo desperately calls her name.

Lillymon rushed beside her while her partner rushes towards them.

"S-Sora…"

"Don't talk Mimi, just hang in there!"

"W-why…"

"We're still friends… right?"

The other Mimi smiles weakly.

"I was… ready for this a long time ago…"

"Mimi!" Lillymon cries out. "Not like this, she wouldn't have wanted you to go like this!"

"Lillymon… there's nothing left… for me… the darkness-"

"Is gone!" Sayo interrupts. "You don't have any of Daemon's power anymore, you don't have to be too hard on yourself for what you did! I'm here, we're here. Mimi please."

"You need to live on," Lillymon starts. "For her sake."

"Lillymon! Sayo!" Mimi throws a water bottle their way.

Lillymon uses a vine to grab the bottle and tosses towards them. Sayo catches the bottle then enchants the water. She opens the bottle and pours it over other Mimi's wound, she then brings it to her lips.

"Here, drink this."

The other Mimi takes the water as Mimi arrives.

"Is she-?" Mimi was too afraid to finish.

"I don't know," Sayo answers. "Her wound is much more serious than what I normally heal. I can only heal, I can't revive."

Omnimon hovered above them, looking solemn.

Beelzemon laughs maniacally above them. "Hahahaha! Yes! Now I have the power to destroy you! And after you, I'll take Yagami's power too, I'll be unstoppable!"

Matt's hands shiver, "OMNIMON!"

Omnimon X's body began to glow bright blue. Both he and Beelzemon clash in the sky, the shockwave could be felt all the way from the ground. BancoLillymon notices Leopardmon's sword stuck in the ground. The other Mimi stopped drinking and Sayo poured the rest of the water on the wound again.

"Are you alright?" Sayo asks the other Mimi.

"You shouldn't worry about me," the other Mimi replies as another shockwave blows by them.

"I'll take care of her," Mimi offers. "You need to go."

"Thanks," Sayo hands the other Mimi over to Mimi.

"Wait," the other Mimi calls for her. "You need… to help… Tai…"

"Tai?"

"Yagami will only… keep him alive for so long."

"What do you mean?"

"He's more powerful… then me."

Sayo's eyes widened.

"Lillymon," Mimi calls to her partner. "You should help her."

BanchoLillymon walks over to Leopardmon's sword and pulls it out of the ground. "I can't, there's something I need to do here." She wraps the sword up in vines and the vines sink into the ground.

"Lillymon?"

"You don't… need to," the other Mimi tells her.

"I want to," BanchoLillymon smiles at her, then runs off to join Omnimon X in battle.

Beelzemon catches Omnimon's sword, his other claw glows. "Darkness Claw!" He impales Omnimon's chest, his flies the two of them to the ground, pushing his hand deeper into the knight's chest.

The two of them crash into the ground. Beelzemon floats up, aiming his blaster. He rapid fires into the knight. Omnimon fires a large beam, the demon evades even at close range. The knight jumped up to swing his sword, Beelzemon ducks, plants his gun right up to Omnimon's chest and fires a powerful beam right through him.

"Hehehe, hahaha!" Beelzemon laugh maniacally as Omnimon dropped to one knee. "Now you see?! Friendship? Companions? Power is only useful when it belongs to one person! Now to end this…" Beelzemon points his blaster at the downed knight.

"Omnimon!" Matt yells out.

Omnimon's eyes glow faintly. He deflects the gun just as it fired. Beelzemon tries his Darkness Claw, Omnimon blocks it, stands up.

"Why don't you just stay down?" Beezelmon super speeds around the knight.

Omnimon swings his sword, hitting Beezlemon into the ground.

Beelzemon wipes his lips, "Lucky shot." He super speeds again, intending to appear above Omnimon's shoulder. His face is blasted by the Garuru Cannon, his body is blown back. "Your stupid Omega inForce, but you can't keep it up with that hole in your chest." Beelzemon pulls out his guns and barrages the knight.

Omnimon tries his best to defend himself, he points his cannon at the demon. "Supreme Cannon!" The cannon unloads a powerful beam.

"Too slow!" Beelzemon appears right behind Omnimon, swipes at his legs. The knight falls back onto the ground. Beelzemon climbs back on top of him with his blaster ready. "It's over."

A familiar sword flies through Omnimon's chest and into Beelzemon's blaster.

"What the-!" the gun explodes in the demon's face, with Leopardmon's sword flying upwards. "Argh!" Beelzemon stumbles back.

BanchoLillymon grabs the sword and dives down, impaling the demon's heart. "That's for Mimi!"

"Darkness Claw!" Beelzemon swipes BanchoLillymon away, heavily damaging her into devolving back to Palmon. He struggles to pull the sword out of his chest.

"Omnimon now!" Matt yells.

Omnimon gets up slowly, bringing his sword over his other shoulder, charging it and readying for a full force swing. The knight's cape covers most of its body.

Beelzemon tosses the small sword aside, the pain in his chest makes it difficult for him to move. He sees Omnimon ready to swing his glowing sword, the demon twitched, he remembers all the previous times that Omnimon X launched that attack, it always cuts through his own.

"What's the matter?" Omnimon taunted. "Scared?"

Beelzemon grits his teeth, through the pain in his chest, he creates his pentagram then points his blaster. "I'll show you who's scared!" The blaster charges up. (As soon as he swings, I'll avoid it and hit him right in the face.)

"Supreme Cannon!" Omnimon fires his gun arm hidden behind his cape.

"What?!" Instinctively Beelzemon flies out of the way of the blast.

Omnimon's eyes shine, he sees where Beelzemon will fly. "ALL DELETE!" Omnimon launches a slash wave at where Beelzemon will fly to.

"NOOO- RRRAAAGGGHH!" Beelzemon tries to catch the energy wave with darkness covered hands. The data of his energy disperses upon touch, the wave engulfs his body. He could feel his body dissolve into data. "No, NOOO! I'm all powerful! I'm invincible! This can't be happeninggggg-!"

Omnimon drops down to one knee again, exhausted. Everyone looked at the sky to see the last of Beelzemon disappear into nothingness.

 **XXX**

* * *

 **Author:** This was more difficult than expected, I wanted to show that their fights were really close together, so having them swap opponents for a while was always in the plan. But as I came closer to ending them, I got more and more uncomforatable with Sayo or Lillymon killing Mimi, it just didn't sit well with me.

Anyways, with Beelzemon and Leopardmon now out of the picture, all that's left is Belphemon Rage Mode and Apollomon Whispered Mode, can the soccer team and everyone else fight back against the Ultra level demon on their own? Can Tai overcome his hateful mirror self? Even I don't know how it's going to go.


	25. Overheat

Belphemon Rage Mode roars out, all the mega level digimon around him are stopped by the roar alone, they all feel it through their bodies. It unleashes a barrage of flaming chains in all directions. Every mega digimon fight back against them

"Nothing's working!" Davis screams.

"It's brushing off everything we throw at it," Takuya says aloud.

"Even with everyone else's digimon, we can't stop it," Takato notes

"Come on guys," Marcus catches his own fist. "We're the last line of defense while Tai and the others are fighting the bosses." He looks back at the glowing spherical orb floating in the sky. "So it's up to us to protect the root."

"That thing looks pretty strong," Davis mentions. "Even more than the other dimension dudes. "

"Takuya!" some of Takuya's friends rush over to him.

"Guys!" Takuya smiles at first, then puts on a serious face. "Get out of here! Your digimon aren't strong enough!"

"We know!" the girl of the group replies. "That's why…" their digimon partners gather around them.

"Guys?"

"We might not have enough to stand up to that monster, but if we give you what we do have, then I'm sure you can do it."

"Just like what we did with Armageddemon," a voice comes up behind Takato.

"Henry," Takato greeted. "And everyone else."

"MegaGargomon and all the other digimon have taken too much damage to help now," Henry explains as their partners gather around.

"So we're giving all our power to you guys," a girl's voice says as another group appears.

"Hey," Marcus waves to them. "You sure about this?"

"We are," the girl replies. "You're the closest to the digidestined, Tai in particular. So you're the best choices for this."

"So how are you going to give us your power?" Davis asks.

"How else?" Ken's voice alerts them to the coming of the other original digidestined, particularly Kari and Angewomon.

"Kari!" Davis excitedly greets. "You're okay!"

"Yeah, thanks to you all." Kari and the others get off.

"Can Angewomon handle all that power?" Henry asks straight out.

"Not the Megas," Kari answers. "You'll have to devolve your Megas to Ultimates and give power that way."

"They can barely keep their Mega forms together as it is," Henry notes. "We'll bring them down and give whatever they have."

"I'll spread the power throughout all your digimon," Angewomon addresses the soccer boys. "Make sure they're ready to defend me in the meantime." The angel flies upwards. "Holy Sky!"

The sky above them changes, everyone noticed, even Belphemon. The behemoth roars out and takes a step towards the group. Imperialdramon, Gallantmon, EmperorGreymon and ShineGreymon stand in his way. The four Megas charge as hard as they can, Belphemon Rage Mode unleashes his hellish chains on them. The four mons all attack them, with little effect other than deflecting them temporarily. The giant beast charges forward with its claws ignited in green flames.

"Here he comes!"

Imperialdramon and Gallantmon both fire on one side, EmperorGreymon and ShineGreymon attack from the other. The monster punches both combined attacks. The four mons pour more power to try and push it back. Belphemon Rage Mode takes a step forward.

"Hurry!" Imperialdramon yells to the group.

All of the Ultimates unload whatever power they had into Angewomon's energy field, then devolve to their Rookie forms. Belphemon roared out, the attacking mons are affected, struggling to keep their attacks up. Feeling their weakening, Belphemon rears back one fist, he punches one beam disintegrating it and unbalancing the attackers. He does the same with the other beam. Burning chains fly towards the stunned attacks, they fly around to avoid the attacks. The chains charge at them in all directions, the digimon duck, weave, counter, parry, everything they could do to keep from being wrapped up or knocked around by the flying chains. Belphemon doesn't stay still though, it actively chases down the four digimon with flaming fists swinging. ShineGreymon was the first unfortunate target. The behemoth rushed up beside the dragon, ShineGreymon only had a moment to realize where the monster is.

"ShineGreymon!" Marcus yells as his partner was punched hard, flying into a building. Green flames burn around his body.

"Imperialdramon!" Davis calls out, the large dragon was wrapped up in burning chains.

Belphemon grabbed the chains, yanked the dragon towards him, then punched it down to the ground beside the digidestined. A beam attacks the behemoth's shoulder, Gallantmon was making whatever attacks he could while evading Belphemon's chains. The demon roars out again, then charges. Gallantmon flies around avoiding the gigantic beast while firing his lance.

"Ryugonken!" EmperorGreymon dived, covered in dragon flames. The dragon slashed down on the monster's head with the flames engulfing the massive beast. EmperorGreymon floats back as the fire pillar burns.

A green flamed fist bursts through the firewall hitting EmperorGreymon full force. The dragon is sent crashing into a building. Gallantmon tries to attack the emerging beast. The behemoth quickly grabbed the knight, then slammed him down onto the ground several times. Broken, Belphemon tossed the ragdoll digimon aside, right next to the digidestined.

"Gallantmon no!" Takato cried.

"Angewomon!" Kari yelled out.

"It's not ready yet!" The angel calls back. "The mixing energy is still too chaotic."

The demon stomps closer to the digidestined. The group of humans and Rookie digidestined all stood their ground. Marcus grits his teeth and clenches his fist as the titan towers above them. The beast roars so hard that they can feel it. One of its hands rears up to punch them.

"Soul Digitalization!" A flurry of green beams barrage the monster. The attacks were enough to flinch the beast. Then a huge sword flies into its shoulder, causing extreme pain for the monster. It bellows out. A winged black knight digimon flies in front of the beast, places a palm onto its face, then blasts it with green energy. The digimon grabbed the sword and swung it at the monster's chest. Belphemon fall backwards with the winged knight hovering above it.

"Who-?" Davis asks out loud.

"Looks like we made it," a soft, relieved voice speaks behind them.

"Yeah take that!" a rowdy voice follows.

Everyone turns around to see three girls about Marcus' age, a girl in blue with a pink jacket, a girl in white with black sleeves and a girl in yellow and black.

"Nokia, Yuuko and Ami?" Marcus role calls them. "What are you doing here?"

"We weren't about to let you take all the glory!" Nokia replies.

"Sorry we're late," Ami apologized. "My boss was feeling reeaally experimental with her coffee flavors today. I don't know what you guys are doing, but Alphamon will hold that thing back for as long as it can."

With that, Belphemon roars once again, it gets up rapidly to grab Alphamon but the knight deftly avoids it. Chains fly in from all over, Alphamon soars, counters with green energy blasts and its sword.

"Blade of the Dragon King!" Alphamon's sword glows as he holds it above his head. "Hragh!" The knight swings down at the chasing chains. A large slash wave flies forth, dissolving the chains into fragments.

"W-why is it so strong?" Takato's jaw drops.

"Because he's our partner," Ami explains and she, Nokia and Yuuko all take out their digivices, they smile and nod at each other.

Alphamon uses its speed to circle around Belphemon and attack from all angles. The beast swings its flame covered arms wildly and blindly as the knight slashes it everywhere. A lucky blow knocks the knight down.

"Alphamon!" Ami cries out.

Belphemon stomps on Alphamon, the knight screams out in pain. His digital armor cracks heavily. A massive beam of light hits Belphemon, pushing the monster off of Alphamon. Everyone turns to see where the light came from, Omnimon X was in their line of sight. The white knight digimon was heavily damaged and could barely keep his form together, the cannon blast took the last of his energy as the knight's form dissipates into particles that fly towards Imperialdramon. Belphemon once again roars, Alphamon fires multiple green energy beams at its face to stun it. Alphamon struggles to stand using its sword.

"Gallantmon!" Alphamon calls to the fallen knight. "Use my power!" The black knight throws his sword to the white knight. The sword sticks into the ground, next to Gallantmon just as Alphamon's armor shatters and he devolves to Dorumon.

"Haaahragh!" Angewomon rains down the celestial energy on EmperorGreymon and ShineGreymon.

Imperialdramon is covered in Omnimon X's glowing data fragments, Gallantmon takes Alphamon's sword which shatters into energy that the knight absorbs. The four digimon are surrounded in light around the digidestined. Belphemon roars out once again then charges the nearest glowing opponent, EmperorGreymon.

"Giga Crusher!" Imperialdramon unleashes a powerful blast that stops Belphemon in its tracks.

"Alright!" Davis celebrates as he turns to his partner, now Imperialdramon Paladin Mode.

Belphemon fires off several flaming chains at the white knight.

"Crimson Light!"

"Corona Blaze Sword!"

The chains are stopped by holy white and burning flame blades, Gallantmon Crimson Mode and ShineGreymon Burst Mode float in front of Imperialdramon.

"Incredible!" Kari watches with everyone in awe.

"But temporary," Angewomon floats down to her before degenerating back to Gatomon.

"What do you mean temporary?" Takuya asks.

"The digimon aren't accustomed to their new forms," Ken explains. "The stronger the power boost, the less time they can hold onto it. They'll need to beat that thing fast before their power runs out."

"Celestial Blade!" EmperorGreymon shatters his glow aura revealing Susanoomon firing a beam of light at Belphemon's chest.

The massive beast takes the hit full on, its legs scrape across the ground. It lets out a massive howl then brings its fists down on the energy beam, breaking it apart. Flaming chains fly forth to the four digimon. The kngihts dash and weave faster than they were before, counterattacking, parrying, evading, all of their abilities were heightened. Belphemon rushes forward to punch Gallantmon. Susanoomon flies in to block the blow with the red knight. The monster rears up its other fist.

"Positron Laser!"

"Corona Blaze Sword!"

Imperialdramon and ShineGreymon both attack Belphemon's vulnerable body, leaving a flaming scar on its chest. The monster steps back from the attacks.

"Heaven's Thunder!" Susanoomon fires energy into the air. Lightning bolts rain down on the behemoth.

"Invincible Sword!" Gallantmon slashes down the other way to create a light scar crossing with ShinGreymon's.

The beast steps back, then bellows out once more.

"Yeesh, we get it already," ShineGreymon points his flaming sword at Belphemon. "You're a monster, and we're going to slay you."

"Look," Gallantmon draws their attention to the two deep wounds they've caused. The light and red flames were engulfed by green fire, healing the monster. "He's regenerating."

"So we can't wear him down," Susanoomon comments. "We'll need to take him out all at once!"

"Then let's pour everything we have into one final combined attack!" Imperialdramon pulls out his Omni Sword.

Belphemon gathers his flaming chains into one large burning ball.

"Looks like he's got the same idea!" ShineGreymon's sword burns brightly. "I'll stop it, you guys finish it off!"

ShineGreymon flies upwards to intercept the giant flaming chain ball, he raises his shield up to it and ignites his flaming wings to push it back. The other three hear massive stomping headed towards them, Belphemon is running straight for them with its fists covered in demonic flame.

"Celestial Blade!"

"Crimson Light!"

Gallantmon Crimson Mode and Susanoomon both fly to intercept a fist. The force of impact cracks their digital bodies.

"What's happening?" Susanoomon wonders out loud as they hold back the demon fist.

"It's too much power!" Gallantmon answers as their armor begins to fragment. The demon monster's hand spews out more flames into the knight's faces, out of the corner of his eye Gallantmon can see ShineGreymon struggling against the meteor ball. "Imperialdramon!"

The white dragon holds his sword out in front of him, the sword glows brightly with power. Belphemon sees the shining energy. It fires several chains at the white dragon. Imperialdramon swings his sword, just the wind from that alone blows all the chains away. Belphemon pushes harder against Susanoomon and Gallantmon.

"NnghRAGH!" Susanoomon and Gallantmon unload the last of their powers against Belphemon's full might.

Both digimon unleash a brilliant flash destroying the behemoth's hands. The monster staggers back as the two devolve to their rookie forms. Belphemon unleashes its most tremendous howl yet as flaming chains appear in all directions. Imperialdramon dodges, deflects and dices the chains as he flies down to the monsters. The white knight raises the sword up above his head, the glowing sword shine brighter than ever.

"HiiiYAAAH!" Imperialdramon comes down swinging the sword. It cuts into Belphemon's shoulder, spewing light and green flames into the air. "RrrrAGH!" Imperialdramon pushes the sword harder into Belphemon's flesh. Green flames burn the white knight's body, the power of the flames eventually overwhelmed the knight, forcing him to release his sword and hover back.

"Imperialdramon! Use this!" a call from above catches the white knight's ears. "Corona Blaze Sword!" A flaming sword flies down from above.

Imperialdramon catches the burning blade, then dives to where his own sword is stuck. "YeeeeAAAAH!" The knight impales the monster near where the other sword is, then holds both blades.

ShineGreymon give his all for one last surge of energy against the meteor ball. "Final… Shining… BURST!"

ShineGreymon and the mass of flaming chains explode in a brilliant flash of light. As Imperialdramon uses all the strength he has left to force the swords through the behemoth. Green flames fill the sky but are enveloped in bright light as Belphemon dissipates into nothingness.

The digidestined watch in awe as the giant monster vanishes. Imperialdramon splits back into its rookie forms as the last of Belphemon disappears.

"They did it!" Davis yells at the top of his lungs. "Whoo hoo!"

"Yeah!" Marcus and the soccer team give a big high five to each other then they run over to their digimon. Everyone else followed.

"Agumon!"

"Guilmon!"

"Flamemon!"

"Are they hurt?" Kari asks.

"They're drained," Yoshi answers. "They'll be fine after some rest."

"Thank goodness," Zoe sighed.

"Does this mean it's over?" Yolei ponders.

They hear the sound of a crashing building not too far away, they see smoke rise up from where it once stood.

"No," Marcus answers. "There's one battle left."

XXX

VictroyGreymon's body flies through a building, he lands hard in a construction site. As he tries to get up, Apollomon Whispered Mode lands nearby. Apollomon watches briefly, noticing a fierce glare from Tai. The lion runs up and kicks the dragon in the gut, the body flies into a pile of girders. The metal beams land all around the area. Apollomon waits for the dust to settle, so that he could see he opponent sprawled out on the pile of metal. VictoryGreymon stumbles out, Apollomon dashes forward, VictoryGreymon notices a beam on the ground between them, he stomps on it and the beam bashes Apollomon's chin. The dragon kicks the beam, kicking the lion away.

Apollomon lands on his feet and one hand, he wipes his lips. VictoryGreymon rushes in carrying a girder, the dragon swings it at him. The lion catches the beam, smiles, then lifts up the beam with the dragon desperately holding on the other end. VictoryGreymon is slammed onto the ground, Apollomon lifts up the beam again and brings it down on the dragon. He does it again, and again. VictoryGreymon rolls away, then dashes forward. Apollomon drops the girder and blocks, VictroyGreymon's fist doesn't affect him at all.

Yagami smirks, "You're dumber than I remember." He uppercuts the dragon then jumps after him, grabs his leg, spins then throws him to the ground near a couple steamrollers. "Still, fighting me alone is probably the dumbest move you could've done. You can't beat me just by charging at me blindly."

"Then I'll improvise!" Tai grabs the front rollers of the steamrollers, he slams Apollomon with them. The rollers dent heavily with each attack. One full punch knocks Yagami away. Tai throws one of the wrecked rollers.

Apollomon catches the metal heap, his hands heat up with blue flame than blasts the metal to bits. VictoryGreymon plows through the explosion. With everything he has, the dragon punches the lion in the face, backing him into a wall. The dragon doesn't let up, knocking the lion through the wall. Apollomon gets into position, he catches VictoryGreymon's attack pulling him into a wall then boots him right through it. Tai stumbles bit, he turns his head back only to be met with a fist. He recovers his footing, he brings his arms together to block Yagami's follow up. His body feels the lion's attack flow through him. Tai clasps his hands together, head butts Yagami, then brings his clasps hand up, sending Apollomon through several floors above.

Tai jumps up through the hole to the roof, Yagami was waiting for him. The lion punches him hard in the gut just as he emerged. The dragon's body is sprawled on the rooftop, the lion jumps up then crashes down on the dragon's body, busting the two through the whole building. The structure collapses on top of them.

"Tai!" Dianamon sees the building fall, shielding her eyes from the coming dust cloud.

When the dust settles, Dianamon sees a figure walking through the remaining clouds. A blue armored lion emerges.

"Tai, no, Yagami!" Dianamon prepares herself for battle. "Where's Tai?!"

"Sora," Apollomon greets her by going into a fighting stance. "You're finally here."

"Where's Tai?!"

"Right behind me," Apollomon mentions as the debris behind him erupts.

VictroyGreymon pulls himself up from the rubble, his digimon form is fragmenting.

"I knew you wouldn't die so easily," Yagami comments. "I more surprised that you were able to keep your digimon form together. But you're in no condition to fight."

"Tai stay down," Sayo tells him. "I'll finish this."

"That's exactly what I wanted," Yagami mutters.

Apollomon Whispered Mode and Dianamon charge each other. Dianamon twirls her halberd downward, Apollomon sidesteps and counters, Sayo brought her head to the side as the fist flew in front of her eyes. She pulls on her harken, catching Yagami's torso, she tossed him to a nearby wall. Sayo jumps to follow up as the fire god lands on the wall. Apollomon jumps off, cracking the building, raising a flaming fist while Dianamon stretches out her leg. The clash of attacks sent a shockwave through the area. Both fighters land on the ground then charge again. A horizontal swing, ducked, an uppercut, sidestepped, a roundhouse kick, blocked, a haymaker punch, blocked with the polearm.

"How are you still so strong after fighting with Mimi?" Yagami asks.

"Looks like Tai was stronger than you thought," Sayo replies as she struggles to hold her ground.

"Don't be stupid, I was saving the best for you!" Apollomon's body erupts in blue flames.

Sayo is overwhelmed by Yagami's power, she's knocked into a wall. Looking up she rolls to avoid his follow up, but manages to swing her blade to counter. Apollomon doesn't feel it as he pursues her. Focusing on defense, Sayo kept on her toes to avoid the flaming fists. She makes use of her agility and range to hit him whenever possible, but her strikes are easily brushed off.

"You'll need to hit harder than that!"

"I just have to hit you enough!" Sayo strikes twice in succession with her spinning polearm.

"Ngh!" Apollomon the quick attacks managed to stagger him.

Sayo then thrusts full force while he's unbalanced. Yagami's body slides back a bit, his feet tore the ground. Dianamon swings again, Apollomon ducks it and tackles her to the ground. He gets up raising a fist, Dianamon brings her arms up to guard herself. VictoryGreymon gores Apollomon into a wall.

"When will you learn!?" Apollomon brings both fists together and sends the dragon to the pavement.

"Lunar Sickle!" Dianamon uses the opening to unleash a powerful slash.

"Argh!" The wall behind the lion crumbles, the lion does not.

Yagami charges forward with a flaming fist. Sayo uses her weapon to deflect the attack downwards, then jumps and twirls both her legs and her weapon to execute a combo attack on the slower combatant.

"NgRAAAH!" Apollomon explodes with blue flame, knocking Dianamon back. "How? How can I be having so much trouble against you? I've gained all this power to crush you all, and yet-"

"You just don't get it do you?" Sayo interrupts.

"What?! What don't I get?"

"Me and Tai… we've been getting stronger, together."

"No amount of training could've made you this strong!"

"It's not that I'm that much stronger, it's that I know how you'll move."

"Wha-?"

"That's what you don't get. No matter how you try to deny it, you're still the same Tai. I can see it in your moves."

"NO!" Yagami's power explodes again. "I am NOT that weakling!"

Yagami charges full force in a blind fit of rage. Sayo finds his movements more predictable as long as she stayed defensive.

"I know, the moves are the same, but your attacks are empty."

"EMPTY!?" A burst of power blows back Sayo, leaving her vulnerable. Apollomon lands a mighty blow to her body, strong enough to send her into the air. "Was that empty?! Is this empty?!" Apollomon raises his arms, dark energy gathered above his head. The dark power grows immensely into a massive black fireball.

"Hey!" VictoryGreymon gets him to turn his head into a flying fist.

The energy ball dissipates as Apollomon staggers. "You-!" He counters before even finishing his sentence.

The two mons slug it out, but Tai's form get worse with each hit and attack. But he holds on. Yagami knocks him down, breaking the pavement.

"I wanted to save you for last, to show you everything you've wanted to protect lost. But I'll just kill you first and see everyone else's faces when I-!"

An ice arrow hits his back, causing him to stumble. Dianamon was charging in fast, firing multiple arrows.

"Whispering Arrow!" Apollomon Whispered Mode unloads a barrage of fireballs against her arrows.

The attacks crash into each other, creating a massive smoke cloud blocking Dianamon's sight. She keeps charging, but a wall of blue fire erupts in front of her causing her to stop. The rest of the clouds are blown away by a massive gathering of energy. She sees Apollomon gathering a massive ball of dark energy above VictoryGreymon's struggling body.

"Tai!" Dianamon cries out wildly.

"Say goodbye! Sun of Lamentation!" Yagami dropped the energy ball on top of Tai.

"TAAAIII!" Sayo screams out as the ball digs deeper into the ground.

"That's it!" Yagami laughs. "I've thrown everything away! No more Tai! No more weakling! No more past! I'm-!"

"YAGAMI!" Dianamon jumped over the energy ball swinging her halberd, causing Apollomon to evade.

"Sora…" Apollomon Whispered Mode, Yagami smirks. "There's still one last link to the past I need to get rid of."

With tears in her eyes, Sayo rushes in. The two combatants square off evenly as the energy ball digs deeper into the ground.

Under the energy ball, Tai uses whatever strength he has to hold his shield together. "I can't-!"

"Tai…" a young girl's voice calls out to him. "Tai…!"

Apollomon knocks Dianamon away, both of their digital forms have taken massive damage, but Dianamon is worse off. The white knight's body begins to dissolve while Apollomon stands, triumphant despite his heavily fragmenting body.

"Give up?" Apollomon asks the girl that was left behind by the disappearing armor.

"Never," she answers without hesitation and a fire in her eyes.

"Of course not, but now," the lion points a flaming fist at the defiant Sayo. "It's all over. There is no more Tai."

His energy ball starts rising up from the ground. The lion mon looks back, shocked, as Sayo stares wide eyes. The dark flames gradually change color to a bright orange.

"Impossible…" Yagami mouthed out.

VictoryGreymon hovers out of the crater holding up the energy ball. Panicking, Apollomon fires several fireballs at the barely keeping together dragon, the shots are blocked by the fireball's flares.

"How?!" Yagami yells out as he keeps firing off his black flames.

"Sayo… was right," Tai begins to answer, tired. "Your attacks… are empty. Which is how Beel and I can make them our own."

"What?!" Yagami is drained of energy, he's unable to shoot anymore attacks. His digimon form is on the verge of breaking up, he's keeping together on sheer will alone.

"She never blamed you, but she doesn't like the person you've become."

"What are you talking abo-?!" Yagami sees, for a moment, a familiar ghost holding Tai up.

"You tried to throw everything away, even your sister. But you can't escape them, especially not her who loved you so much." VictoryGreymon gives a sad look to Apollomon. "You need to see her, she misses you, the real you." Tai drops his hand, the massive energy ball falls forward towards Yagami.

"Kari…" Yagami mutters as the fireball engulfs his body. The body of a young spirit embraces him as his body is vanishes completely.

The fireball tears through the city for a couple blocks before dissipating. VictoryGreymon's digimon body dissolves and Tai starts falling to the ground.

"Tai!" Sayo gets up and rushes to where he'll land. She slides to catch his body. "Tai…"

A spiritual hand places her hand at Tai's forehead. Sayo looks at the spirit's face, whom smiles at her, then waves farewell as she returns to the light.

 **XXX**

* * *

 **Author:** And I thought the battle with Leopardmon was hard to write, the Apollomon fight could've gone several ways. One of my initial ideas for it was to actually have Tai fight on even terms with Yagami, somehow. Powering up through Courage Tai would've managed to fight him solo with Sayo stopping him just short of a killing blow, but Yagami's body is so digitized and damaged that he'd break apart anyway.

Another where the fight is similar to the above or more of an extension, the fight would've somehow damaged the root causing it to start splitting in half and someone has to hold it together from the inside, but they'll die in the process. And somehow during the fight, Yagami just plain gives up and volunteers for it.

Another is to have Tai last long enough for Sayo to jump in and the two tag team him all the way, showing off their bonds and teamwork. But with how I had Apollomon absolutely dominating VictoryGreymon along with other factors (Yagami's power up, Tai's inexperience, figuring out the fight choreography, etc.) I ended up going for the simpler route of a DEM with Kari's ghost.

Anyways while there's no more threats and the battle's all over, there's still some unfinished business to take care of.


	26. Waltz for the Moon

It's been two months since the attack. The Digidestined have all returned to their lives, mostly. The digital world is slowly being restored with new, stronger roots growing to replace the ones that were lost. Izzy and Gennai were able to hasten building their digimon surveillance organization thanks to the necessity for it that the previous incidents showed. News of Ami's Cyber Sleuthing (really just odd jobs) spread throughout school like wildfire, and she's been busy.

The other Mimi has survived the entire ordeal, but isn't sure that she should've. It took a while but Sayo, Sora and Mimi were all doing what they can to make her feel at home, make her as she was before. She's taken the name Lilly, in honor of her fallen friend.

Matt and Sora are now going out regularly, and they could never be closer. So have TK and Kari. Tai is still slow on that front, but Sayo is patient, though the others often push them forward out of disgruntlement.

Today is the day of the national soccer finals, and it's the last minute with scores tied and it's time out time. Tai and Marcus are in no condition to play anymore as they're completely wiped out from the rest of the game.

"Jeez you two," Sayo sighed. "I told you not to overdo it."

"Hahaha," Tai laughs. "These guys really didn't give us any room to relax."

"Yeah," Marcus agrees. "They're something else."

"We'll just have to pick up the slack," Takuya declares.

"And who is slacking?" Marcus playfully grabs Takuya's head and rubs his noggin.

"Enough," Yamaki calls out. "Tai, Marcus, are you sure about this?"

"Yeah," Tai nods. "I'm totally beat."

"Same," Marcus smiles.

"Okay," "Yamaki turns to Takato and Takuya. "You're in front."

"A-alright," Takato nods.

"Hey," Takuya nudges him. "It'll be alright, just do like we practiced, right?"

"Yeah!" Takato smiles. "Let's get that ball first."

"'Practiced'?" Marcus repeats.

"You didn't know?" Sayo smiles at him. "Takato and Takuya have been putting in extra practice for this match."

"Is that why you were 'too busy'?" Tai asks.

"Hehe," Sayo smirks. "Sorry, but they were really adamant about it. They can be a real handful, I needed some help with them."

"Help? From who?" Marcus ponders.

"I think I know," Tai looks over to Sora and the others watching on the stands.

"Huh?" Kari notices the lineup. "Tai and Marcus aren't playing?"

"I think they've used up everything they've got," Sora explains.

"Heh," Matt smirks. "I thought he wouldn't recognize his limits."

"No way," Davis starts. "I thought soccer is the number one thing on his mind! There's no way he'd be letting himself sit out on the last play of the big game."

"You don't get it do you?" Mimi teases him.

"Soccer isn't the number one thing on his mind anymore," the other Mimi, Lilly, finished. The two Mimi's giggled as they turned to Sayo staring at the field as her team takes to the field.

Tai's team takes to the defense, Takato and Takuya put on the pressure on the opposing team. The ball is launched towards the net, the goalie catches it. Takato and Takuya lead the soccer team's offense, they pass the ball between them and the others to keep the other team on their toes.

"Go go go!" Marcus yells.

"Show us what you've got!" Tai follows.

The timer counts down as the two boys look for an opening. They retreat from the net to make some breathing room. Takuya then rushes forward with the ball, Takato follows on the other side. Takuya kicks the ball towards the net, but he wasn't going for a goal. Takato jumps up and headbutts the ball into the net, then the timer rings. Tai's team won the game.

"YEAH!" Tai jumped up to punch the air, he double high fives Marcus, then turns to Sayo, and blushes deeply at the thought of what he was going to do and shyly turns away.

Sayo senses this and blushes herself.

"They're hopeless," Mimi facepalms.

XXX

* * *

At the endgame party, the digidestined had a blast just enjoying themselves. Winning the game, saving the world. It was a time for celebration. They were at a large hall so that everyone's friends could be invited to enjoy. Except many were feeling that there was still something missing.

Matt and his band were playing on the stage, many of the other digidestined were conversing with each other, dancing, keeping an eye on their digimon, playing a digimon card game.

"They haven't done it yet, have they, Kari?" Mimi asks the young girl, causing her to spit out her drink on Davis.

"Heeey!" Davis moaned as Kari hacked for some air.

"I warned you no to hang out around her-uh, here too long," Ken smiles as he leads Davis away to dry off.

"What are you talking about?" Kari asks Mimi.

"Kissing of course," Mimi took a sip of her drink. "They haven't kissed yet, right?"

"Matt and Sora have already done it," Lilly comes in from Kari's other side. "We should do something about that."

"It's really scary when the two of you are together," Kari tells them.

Tai and Sayo were standing off to the side, near each other, but not quite next to each other. While they are enjoying the atmosphere, they clearly have difficulty being together in a cramped, public place with their friends all around them.

"Hard to believe we were fighting for our lives a couple months ago," Tai nervously tries to start a conversation. "Looking at these guys, it's almost like it never happened."

"That's what makes it more fun, it's because we survived, together," Sayo pours out her heart. "But… it's also that we can show those that didn't that we are alive, that we're living on."

"Sayo?"

"Sorry, just… reminiscing."

"You still miss them?"

"Somewhat," Sayo takes a step forward. "But you guys are pretty much them, I still feel weird having to remember my friends while partying with my friends. As a survivor of my world, I need to keep in my memory of my world, but as a part of this world, I'm going to live out my life here. With everyone."

Meanwhile, on the stage, Matt's group had finished their song and was about to give it to the next group when Mimi and Lily both get up at the same time. "Hey hey everyone!"

The entire hall turned to see the two Mimi's waving out to them. The main digidestined in particular were starting to dread what she has planned.

"How's everybody doing tonight?!" Mimi calls out to the crowd. Responses were generally positive. "Alright! I think we've waited long enough for this." Mimi glances over to Tai and Sayo.

"Uh oh," Tai muttered.

"With everything that's happened the past few months," Lily started. "We've all been through a lot. And that at the center of it all were these two!"

A light shines on Tai and Sayo, singling them out from the crowd.

"Here we go," Tai sighs heavily.

"Heehee," Sayo giggled, waiting for the next part of Mimi's plan.

"Come on to the center of the dance floor you two!" Mimi calls out.

Tai hesitates momentarily, but everyone in the hall was watching them.

"Shall we?" Sayo playfully raises her hand to him. "I mean, it is Mimi so..."

"There's no getting out this one," Tai mutters to himself. He takes Sayo's hand and they go to the center of the dance floor.

"I'm sure everyone's aware by now of their whole story," Lily speaks to the crowd. "Tai's a fighter, fighting the frontlines whenever there's trouble. Well, every fighter needs support, every fight needs a reason. For those fights, there's no better support, no better reason for Tai, then the one standing right next to him."

"I… kinda had other reasons to fight before I found out about you," Tai admitted silently.

"It's fine," Sayo tells him. "For the last fight at least, it's true. Right?"

Tai blushes. "B-but, it's also true that you've been supporting all this time."

"If not me, Sora would have."

"No, it wouldn't have been the same if it was Sora. Not even Kari."

"Alright maestro!" Mimi called out. "Hit it!"

Soft, romantic music fills the hall.

"Huh, wait, what's happening?" Tai looks around.

"Hehe," Sayo giggles. "Did you forget? This is a dance. I think this music calls for the ballroom kind."

"I-I don't know how to."

"Oh for-!" Sayo grabs one Tai's hands and places it at her waist, then holds his other hand out a bit while placing her free hand on his shoulder. "Follow my legs, you're good at that right?"

"Uh-whoa!" Tai gets dragged around the floor and tries to keep up with Sayo's movements.

One step he leaned forward too much and nearly tumbled over Sayo, but she caught them both and quickly put them back into the movements. Tai still struggles to follow her for a few steps when she suddenly spins out then pulls him in, he ended up going too fast and bumped her.

"S-sorry," Tai apologizes. "I can't do this." He tries to walk away.

"Come on Tai," Sayo takes his hand. "Don't give up now." She pulls him back then dances around him for a bit before going back into position. "Just focus." She gave him a big smile, Tai's face flushed..

After few minutes, Tai and Sayo were dancing pretty elegantly, well as elegantly as Tai could, but it was passable. It took a while, but Tai managed to pull off a full dance, ending with the two of them holding each other very closely.

Sayo and Tai look at each other's faces, Sayo's smiling face was beaming while Tai smirked. They put their faces closer together, forgetting that they were in the middle of the room full of their friends and digimon, at that moment, they were in their own little world.

Everyone watches silently for a few moments. The two Mimi's high five each other. Matt gives a smirk of approval, Sora elbows him playfully.

Tai pulls himself back to see Sayo's face.

The girl just smiles, "It's about time. Now I don't have to hold back."

"Huh?" Tai looked at her confused as her arms wrap themselves around his neck, then he is forcibly pulled in.

Everybody watches as the two of them fall to the floor, Tai unwillingly. Some people became surprised and others were uncomfortable with how… open their affection is.

"Wow," Mimi comments. "She must've been really waiting for this."

"She's just playing…" Lily replies looking at the two of them. "I think. This is what we wanted, right?"

"Yeah," Mimi smiles. "Now, it's all over."

 **XXX**

* * *

 **Author:** Definitely a weird way to end this, but I was never good with endings anyway and I couldn't think of anything less cheesy/cringy. Oh yeah, think you can figure out what the dance scene was referencing? It's a pretty well known cutscene in a game.

This story was certainly something though. I had managed to plan it and improvise closely up to the Armageddemon battle, with only a few planned scenes being cut out due to how non-sensical it'd be or I couldn't fit it in anywhere while I was winging it, but after that I couldn't decide which way I wanted it to go and how to make it smooth. In short, it was quite the mess after that both in planning and in writing. Ahh the woes of an interesting premise with a messed up execution.

Anyway, thanks for reading and making it this far, I hope it's been enjoyable (especially after the Armageddemon battle) and take care.


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